Team RoSE: Robotic Space Exploration (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)

Team RoSE reached its first finals in 2024, finished 33^rd of 34, improved to 24^th of 35 in 2025 and slipped to 28^th of 36 in 2026. Autonomy scored zero in all three years, although the 2026 rover was described as carrying an autonomous navigation system. In the same season the team was one of 13 finalists for the inaugural INCOSE systems-engineering award, which is the contradiction this page examines.

Identity and results

Team RoSE is a vertically integrated project at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, with a faculty mentor, graduate researchers and undergraduates S-ROSE-2024-NEWS. The 2024 finals was its first, after earlier unsuccessful entries S-ROSE-2024-NEWS. Tier C is the census label for three finals; the tier rule is defined on the census page.

The 2026 rank needs a note. The university reports 27^th of 116 teams, while the score-sheet row order places the team 28^th of the 36 teams with finals scores S-ROSE-2026-NEWS S-URC26-SCORES. The 116 is the registered field. The one-place difference is not explained, and derived ranks are not exact S-CENSUS.

Rover generations

No named rover. No rover name is published in any source reached, so the three finals cannot be assigned to named machines.

2024: first finals. 33^rd of 34, with science 60 and delivery 8; servicing and autonomy at zero S-URC24-SCORES.

2025: the peak. 24^th of 35 and a total of 222.32, driven by science 94, delivery 30 and the first servicing score, 10.5 S-URC25-SCORES.

2026: the systems year. 28^th of 36 and 185.07, with science down to 54 and servicing up to 28.42, while the rover was described as carrying a robotic arm, an autonomous navigation system, a science payload and a communications platform S-ROSE-2026-NEWS S-URC26-SCORES.

The programme behind the rovers. RoSE is one of about 20 vertically integrated projects at the university, with a faculty mentor, graduate researchers and undergraduates S-ROSE-2024-NEWS. The 2024 article names Frances Zhu, Trevor Sorensen and Aaron Ohta as advisors; the project page lists Matthew Siegler, so the roster changed between 2024 and 2026 S-ROSE-2024-NEWS S-ROSE-VIP. The team formed during the pandemic and was about three years old in April 2024, which places its start around 2021 S-ROSE-2024-NEWS.

Subsystems

Mobility. Not published at component level. The news pieces name missions and subsystems, never hardware S-ROSE-2026-NEWS.

Arm and end-effectors. A robotic arm is named on the 2026 rover; axes, reach, end effector and actuators are not published S-ROSE-2026-NEWS. The servicing score rose from 0 to 28.42 in two seasons S-URC24-SCORES S-URC26-SCORES.

Science. A student-built science payload is named, and no instrument or assay is described S-ROSE-2026-NEWS. The programme’s stated learning goals are autonomy, mobility, manipulation and life detection S-ROSE-VIP. Scores were 60, 94 and 54 S-URC24-SCORES S-URC25-SCORES S-URC26-SCORES.

Autonomy. The 2026 rover carries an autonomous navigation system, and the URC autonomy score is zero in every year S-ROSE-2026-NEWS S-URC26-SCORES.

Communications. A student-built communications platform is named for 2026; bands, radios and antennas are not published S-ROSE-2026-NEWS.

Power and compute. Not published.

Mission performance

2024, 33^rd of 34 with 153.49. Science 60 and delivery 8 carried the total; servicing and autonomy were zero S-URC24-SCORES. The team’s pre-competition framing was about eliminating risk through testing, which reads as a team that knew reliability was the risk S-ROSE-2024-NEWS.

2025, 24^th of 35 with 222.32. The breakthrough: science 94, delivery 30, servicing 10.5 and autonomy still zero. A gain of 69 points and nine places S-URC25-SCORES.

2026, 28^th of 36 with 185.07. Science fell to 54 and the SAR to 78.65, both the team’s worst, while servicing rose to 28.42 and delivery held at 24 S-URC26-SCORES. The INCOSE finalist nomination arrived in the same season S-ROSE-2026-NEWS.

Lessons for a first build

• A subsystem on the rover is worth nothing until it runs a scored mission. The autonomous navigation system is listed on the 2026 rover, and autonomy scored zero. The mission needs a rehearsed, timed run.
• One strong mission is not a portfolio. Science reached 94 but ranged from 54 to 94, and no other mission has exceeded 30. A second reliable mission is what moves a total.
• Make servicing a yearly target. It is the only mission that improved every year, from 0 to 10.5 to 28.42, and the improvement came without a published payload change.
• A support structure pays for itself. A faculty mentor, graduate researchers and undergraduates is the only structural idea in this group that addresses student turnover directly.
• Process awards and mission points measure different things. The 2026 INCOSE finalist nomination and the 28^th place are both true; a first build should plan for both.

What remains uncertain

Why autonomy has scored zero three times while the rover is described as carrying a navigation system is not explained. The rover’s name and mass are unpublished, and the team’s listed site was unreachable. What changed between science 94 in 2025 and 54 in 2026 is not stated. Team size and the roster change between 2024 and 2026 are unpublished, although the named advisors changed. Whether the one-place rank difference between the university’s 27^th of 116 and the derived 28^th of 36 reflects a penalty or a counting convention is not explained.

Team sources

• Mars or bust! UH students’ robot design heads to international showdown, the 2024 selection and the project structure.
• Robot rover team caps record year with international recognition, the 2026 rover description and the INCOSE nomination.
• Robotic Space Exploration (RoSE) project page, the programme goals and the current advisor.
• INCOSE Foundation Excellence in Systems Engineering Award, the award the 2026 team was nominated for.