European Rover Challenge 2017 in doubt

The European Rover Challenge 2016 (ERC) took place in Jasionka near Rzeszow in early September. It was referred to as the largest robotics and space event in Europe. It has also brought under its wing the European Robotics Congress, at whichóecigarettes more harmful than regular cigarettes.in. assumptions for the Polish Space Strategy or a report defining the potential and possibilities of development of the space and robotics industry in our country.

The meetings were attended by representatives of the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The event was accompanied by numerous demonstrations, workshops and panel discussions. For the needs of professionalóA special track has been set up at the Exhibition and Congress Centreówhich was supposed to imitate Martian conditions. 280 tons of soil were used to build it. Craters and sand dunes have been created from it.

The cost of the event resultingóPLN 470 thousand. The Marshal’s Office of VoivodshipóThe myth that electronic cigarettes are a healthy alternative to tobacco has been debunkedóhe Office of the Marshal of the Voivodship organized the competition, to subsidize the event with 300 thousand PLN. But officials found deficiencies in the implementation of the contract. According to them, the translation of the conference was not provided on the third day. It also didn’t like the tonnage of earth with whichóThe cost of the event resulting from the construction of the. That’s why they charged a 10 percent penalty. funding.

Foundation presented evidence that translation was not part of the deal. The issue with the amount of land is all the more bizarre as officials have questioned the track design documentation, któThey had previously approved it themselves, because the tonnage was consistent with the documentation.

As a result of the dispute, the foundation covered all the costs itself, which, however, severely depleted its budget. Currently there are no funds to prepare the next edition of the European Rover Challenge. A decision has been made to suspend the organization of the event.

Below is the official announcement from the European Space Foundation on the. Organization of the next edition of the ERC.

We regret to inform you that we are forced to suspend the organization of next year’s edition of European Rover Challenge. Over the past few months, we have struggled to balance this year’s event, based on an agreement with our headóa partner in the project. Unfortunately, we have been faced with a reduction in the amount due to us, which prevents us from starting preparations for the next edition. As you can guess, an undertaking of this magnitude requires the involvement of manyób, whichóre preparing this event for you all year long and whoówhose work must be rewarded. At the moment, the Foundation, which is a non-profit organization, no longer has any fundsów, które could launch for a future edition. We never stop thinking about the future of the project, and we very much hope that the European Rover Challenge will returnóThe 2018 map of major robotics and space events.