Boise State University

06/17/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/17/2026 10:47

Boise State team tests custom-built lunar robot

Students pose with their custom-built lunar robot, Bender 5.0, at the University of Central Florida's regolith pit.
Photo provided by Oliver MacDonald

Eight Boise State students recently traveled to the University of Central Florida to test their custom-built lunar robot, Bender 5.0, in a regolith pit designed to simulate the surface conditions of the Moon. The team ran the robot through excavation and traversal tests, collecting performance data that will inform the design of next year's robot.

Over 30 students, ranging from first-year undergraduates to graduate students, designed and manufactured Bender 5.0 over the course of the 2025-26 academic year as part of the Bender Autonomous Robotic Systems, or Bender ARS, Vertically Integrated Project. Steve Swanson, a Boise State professor and former NASA astronaut, leads the project.

"The students get an opportunity to see what it is like to work on a NASA project," Swanson said. "They get to design, build and test a robot designed for the lunar environment, which is a great complement to their traditional curriculum."

The Bender ARS lunar robot, Bender 5.0. Photo provided by Oliver MacDonald

Over the course of the year, student team members worked through design constraints, manufacturing challenges and field testing conditions. That range of experience is central to the program's structure. Students at every level take on substantive roles in the build and walk away with experiences that parallel industry work.

"It's given me direct experience in robotics, the kind that I thought I would only get after graduation," said one team member, mechanical engineering student Daniel McConnell. "The expectations and milestones for the course are clear, and it's rewarding to see the rover get built from scratch."

Bender ARS is preparing to compete in the 2027 NASA Lunabotics Challenge, which invites students to build a robot capable of performing construction operations in outer space.

Interested in joining the team? Boise State students can take part in the Bender ARS project for course credit; they can also join as a "club," which is free of charge. To learn more, visit the Bender ARS website. If you're ready to join, contact Steve Swanson at [email protected].

Boise State University published this content on June 17, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 17, 2026 at 16:47 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]