Dubai: School students build lunar rover prototype inspired by UAE’s Rashid Rover

Dubai: School students build lunar rover prototype inspired by UAE’s Rashid Rover

The lightweight kart-like model made of pipes and connectors can achieve a top speed of 30km/hour

Published: Fri 28 Oct 2022, 4:34 PM Last updated: Fri 28 Oct 2022, 4:52 PM

Students at a Dubai school have created an in-house prototype of a lunar Rover inspired by the UAE's Rashid Rover which is all set for its historic mission next month.

Taking guidance from the Dubai Future Labs and the Ministry of State for Artificial Intelligence, Year 13 students of Dubai International Academy (DIA) Emirates Hills assembled their project in three months, even holding an open showcase event of the working model.

Mehul Vemareddy, Prateeti Saran, Umar Ingalls, Soumyo Satyanarayanan, and Kshiteez Panigrahi constructed a lightweight kart-like frame for the rover that can achieve a top speed of 30km/hour. The rover, made using pipes and connectors, weighs approximately 80kg, is electrically powered, and even has the capability to be remote controlled using a laptop.

DIA EH student Mehul Vemareddy, who is one of the five creators of the rover, says, "This was inspired by two things. First, the Maker Movement, which is a movement or a subculture that was started in the US in the Bay Area about 10 years ago and the way it