Team history

The history of our team began with a small university project. During one of the courses — “Principles of Computer Organization” (PCO) — four students: Mykola Balyk, Yurii Fitio, Yaryna Zabchuk, and Bohdan Kolodchak, under the supervision of mentor Andrii Ozhovych, created their first small rover. This experience became the starting point for a much more ambitious idea. Later they learned about the international competition European Rover Challenge 2026 and almost immediately realized that the team should try its strength in this challenge.

The project is led by Andrii Ozgovych, who serves as the main mentor of the team. Other professional mentors have also joined the project, helping with technical solutions and engineering planning. Among the students, the role of coordinator and the de facto manager of the team was taken by Mykola Balyk — a person who is extremely dedicated to this project and puts a lot of effort into its development.

Gradually, other enthusiastic students began to join the team — people united by an interest in engineering, robotics, space technologies, and complex technical challenges. This is how the team we are today was formed: friendly, motivated, talented, and united by a common goal. Most participants have known each other since the first weeks of studying at the university, which has helped create an atmosphere of trust, support, and a true team spirit.

Our team consists of second-year students of the “Computer Science” and “Robotics” programs at the Ukrainian Catholic University. In total, the team includes 25 student participants and 5 mentors who help us with technical solutions, engineering approaches, and the strategic development of the project.

The team is divided into several specialized subteams, each of which is responsible for a separate direction of work on the rover. In each subteam there is a team lead, who coordinates the work and organizes interaction between participants, as well as a mentor, who helps with technical consultations and the development of the corresponding direction. It is worth noting that many participants work in several subteams at the same time, which allows us to combine different technical directions more effectively. Some subteams are actually formed from participants of other teams, which contributes to better coordination of work and knowledge exchange between different directions.

Sponsors
• Ukrainian Catholic University
• Nova Ukraine
• SoftServe
• Eleks
• Infenion

Aspirations
Our team is inspired by an idea often expressed by scientists: the first person who will step on Mars may already be born today. We do not know who it will be or when it will happen, but we want to make our small contribution to ensuring that future Martian missions are safer, more technologically advanced, and more efficient.

That is why for us this project is not only a competition. It is an opportunity to become part of the great history of space exploration, to learn how to work on complex engineering challenges, and to create technologies that may one day help humans explore other planets.

In a certain sense, we believe that technology, engineering, and human curiosity can change the world for the better. And if beauty can save the world, then for us this beauty lies in engineering ideas, teamwork, and the desire to discover something new.

At the same time, this project is an opportunity for us to gain invaluable experience in team engineering work, the development of complex technical systems, and solving real engineering problems. For each of us, it is a chance to apply our knowledge in practice, learn to work effectively together, and create a technology that goes far beyond the classroom.

One of our goals is also the development of robotics at our university, as the “Robotics” program appeared only recently, and in Ukraine in general. We want such engineering projects to become a natural part of student life, allowing students to work on real technical systems rather than only theoretical tasks. We also aim to become one of the first Ukrainian teams to represent Ukraine at the European Rover Challenge, and in doing so inspire other teams in the future to participate in similar competitions and develop engineering projects on an even larger scale.