This past weekend the Badlands Community Facility was overrun by rovers, literally.
It was the Canadian International Rover Challenge (CIRC) once again and a number of universities showed off their rover building talents. Justin Gerein, one of the organizer of the CIRC event shares what draws these teams to the event. “A big part of the draw is an opportunity for the students to learn and test the equipment they have been designing throughout the year. A big part of our event and being here in Drumheller is having that central facility where all the teams can interact. That is one of our favourite aspects, as organizers, seeing all the comradery among the teams.”
With twenty teams participating, there is a great mix of teams from Canada, United States, and Europe, shares Gerein. “We have more than 10 teams from Canada. We’ve got several teams from the United States and we again have a team from Poland this year.”
The weather was nearly perfect for the event. Last year, for instance, it was blistering hot, but this year was nearly ideal conditions for the teams. That being said, they did have some challenges with weather according to Gerein. “It was actually a very bright year. In the past, there has been rain, but this year we saw a lot of sunglasses being put on in front of cameras. Temperature wise, it was perfect, there has been challenges that teams had to actually plan for.”
The trophy the teams were competing for this weekend.
The first CIRC in Drumheller was back in 2017 so this was year seven. Last winter they expanded the event to have a winter session in Niagara Falls and Gerein shares that it went well. “The winter event went really well. It was a small team, not as much snow as we had hoped for. There won’t be a winter event this year as we focus on the summer (event) as we continue to grow.”
Gerein comments that the BCF has been booked for 2025 and they hope for a bigger and better event the second week of August 2025. To learn more about CIRC, and inquire about volunteering for next year’s event, visit their website.
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