In 2021, the European Space Agency and the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC) launched the Space Resources Challenge, calling on research groups and student teams to imagine how future explorers might use local resources on the Moon. Politecnico di Torino answered that call through PoliTOmoon, a consortium bringing together expertise from across the university. Among the contributors was DIANA, a student team with a clear focus: guidance, navigation, and control for autonomous systems.
The challenge was straightforward in its wording but complex in its execution—develop robotic systems capable of prospecting and collecting lunar resources in a simulated environment. For ESA, the goal was to test ideas that could one day support sustainable human presence on the Moon. For the PoliTOmoon consortium, it was a chance to prove that students and researchers in Turin could compete at an international level.
DIANA’s role within the consortium was to ensure that the simulated rover could navigate unfamiliar, obstacle-filled terrain with minimal human input. On the real Moon, the delay in communications makes constant remote control impossible. That means autonomy is essential. DIANA worked on algorithms and control strategies that would allow a rover to make decisions on the fly—avoiding hazards, choosing paths, and staying oriented even when the environment was unpredictable.
The team collaborated closely with other PoliTOmoon groups, aligning their work with systems for sensing, mechanics, and mission operations. It was a crash course in integration: every subsystem had to function independently but also mesh smoothly with the rest. The ESA ESRIC challenge became a live testbed for that collaboration.
Participating in the competition gave DIANA and the wider PoliTOmoon consortium more than just technical feedback. It placed them on the map of European space research, alongside professional teams and established institutions. For the students, it meant seeing their work assessed not only by professors but by space engineers who are shaping the future of lunar exploration.
The ESA ESRIC 2021 Space Resources Challenge marked a milestone for DIANA. It showed what’s possible when young researchers bring academic knowledge into a real-world, high-stakes setting. And it confirmed something the team already believed: the path to the Moon isn’t reserved for distant agencies. It starts in labs and workshops, with students willing to take on the unknown.