EPFL Xplore has done it again. The student association has claimed first place at the European Rover Challenge (ERC) for the second consecutive year, a feat previously achieved only by Poland's AGH Space Systems. The 2026 edition took place at AGH University in Kraków, where 25 finalists, selected from over 120 teams worldwide, spent three days on tasks modeled on real NASA and ESA missions, set this year against a recreation of Hellas Planitia, Mars's largest impact crater. AGH Space Systems (Poland) took second place, and DIANA (Italy) came third.
A rover rebuilt, not just improved
Repeating as champions is one thing; doing it after redesigning much of the rover is another. Rather than refining last year's winning platform, as many teams tend to do, EPFL Xplore opted for a full overhaul, a riskier path given the tight window to prove new systems reliable before competition day.
The team introduced an autonomous tool-changing mechanism letting the robotic arm switch between a gripper, a clamshell tool for sand sampling, and a liquid sampling tool. The chassis was also redesigned as a single welded structure, cutting overall weight. On the software side, autonomy improved further in the maintenance task, where the rover operates switches, plugs in cables, and manipulates a metal bar by itself.
These upgrades earned EPFL Xplore second place in the Innovation Award. The team's drone once again delivered a flawless run, scoring a perfect 300 out of 300 in the Drone Mission and securing the Drone Excellence Award, the same award it won last year, alongside the overall title both times.
"Despite making so many changes to the rover, we still managed to improve our score compared to last year," says Nour Larbi, President of EPFL Xplore. "We took quite a few risks, but seeing that all the hard work from everyone in the team paid off was probably the most rewarding part."
Testing the unknown, without a Marsyard
Not having a Marsyard on the EPFL campus made the road to Kraków harder. Without a full-scale replica of Martian terrain, the team couldn't properly test the rover's drill or navigation beforehand. "It was quite stressful to discover how some of our systems would perform in the actual environment," Nour admits.
For Nour, what set this year apart was precisely this appetite for innovation. "Everyone worked incredibly hard throughout the year, and it was really great to see that effort being rewarded with the overall victory and the different awards," she says. "We are incredibly proud of what we achieved together!"
Back-to-back champions
With this second consecutive win, EPFL Xplore joins AGH Space Systems as the only teams to have won the ERC two years running, a rare double in a competition that draws top robotics teams from across Europe and beyond.
Huge congratulations to the whole EPFL Xplore team for this outstanding achievement!
About EPFL Xplore:
EPFL Xplore is a student-led space robotics association at EPFL, supervised by the EPFL Space Center and part of the MAKE initiative.
Follow EPFL Xplore:
Website: epfl-xplore.ch
LinkedIn: EPFL Xplore on LinkedIn
© Cover photo: Ralph Rosenbauer