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Saddleback College · Irvine Valley College

We build a Mars rover.

Currently recruiting for 2026/2027.

SC Robotics rover performing equipment servicing mission

UNIVERSITY ROVER CHALLENGE FINALIST · 5× SINCE 2020

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We drive to the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah and beat four-year universities.

5×

URC finalist · 2020–2025 · top ~40 teams worldwide each year

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Our place at URC 2025 · 114 teams · 15 countries

Who we compete alongside:

Cornell

Carnegie Mellon

Georgia Tech

Michigan

Purdue

BYU

Missouri S&T

West Virginia

UC San Diego

Northeastern

Toronto

Waterloo

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We're recruiting four subteams.

Electrical

PCB DESIGN · POWER · WIRING

LTSpice schematics → Altium PCBs → manufacture → debug and test.

Mechanical

SOLIDWORKS · CAD · CNC · 3D PRINT

3D CAD design, rapid prototyping, in-house manufacturing.

Programming

C++ · PYTHON · ROS · OPENCV

Autonomy, computer vision, path planning, embedded firmware.

Science

BIO · CHEM · GEOLOGY

Design the on-board experiments that detect life. Present findings to URC judges.

No prior experience needed.

We teach all of it. What we look for is people who want to learn, alongside mentors already working in industry.

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Why Join?

01Portfolio work on a rover that actually competes

02Direct mentorship from working engineers

03A team that transfers to UCI, UCLA, UCSD, Cal Poly, Berkeley

04Reference letters

05Hands-on experience you cannot get in a lecture

Our alumni now work at:

SpaceX
Anduril
Mach
NASA
Tesla

WHEN

Sundays

Weekly meetings, year-round — including summer.

WHERE

Science Building

Saddleback College campus.

TIME COMMITMENT

5–20 hrs/wk

You get what you give.

COST

$0

Corporate sponsors + foundation funding.

Rover at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah

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Team member pointing at the apply QR codes

Applications live in Discord.

Discord

discord.gg/USzmfYwAUa

Website

saddlebackcollegerobotics.com