Team Polar post Norway | Blog 3

After our trip, we had the time to evaluate the Ice cube. The main tests were about the efficacy of skid steering, investigating battery performance at cold temperatures, determining the maximum depth of snow the vehicle could navigate with its limited ground clearance, and measuring the maximum vehicle range in typical driving conditions. We went beyond our expectations. Some of the results are that the skid steering was more than viable, the battery can last up to 35h on standby and 4h in action, and additionally, the rover has a maximum range of 10km through the snow. The clearance of the vehicle for the snow is 22cm, but it can still safely plough through even higher snowbanks. Considering everything, it really shows how well it works in a such snowy environment.

In order to celebrate these great findings, we present the Ice Cube to the world for the first time on the 20th of January, when our Reveal event took place. On this date, we were welcomed by beautiful snow and despite the lack of public transport and cold weather, we had a full hall with people curious to see the prototype. The guest speakers, rector magnificoes of the TU/e Frank Baaijens, the director of the Dutch Polar Programme Dick van der Kroef and the head of the student team program at Innovation Space Madis Talmar gave some great insights and inspired future and current students to innovate actively. The reveal of the rover took place and afterwards it was followed by a drink and a press release.