The College of DuPage Robotics team will compete at the 2026 NASA International Lunabotics Championship from Oct. 26 to 29. COD is one of two U.S. colleges selected to participate and the only community college among the seven participating institutions.

“As a community college, we compete against some of the best engineering programs in the country, many from large four-year universities with significantly greater resources,” said Eric Meloche, associate professor of physics at COD. “To be selected for this international competition is a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to the talent, dedication and hard work of our students.”

Seven teams from four countries — the United States, United Kingdom, India and Australia — will compete using student-designed lunar construction robots capable of excavating, transporting and depositing simulated lunar soil.

Each team will be allotted two 25-minute runs in a simulated lunar environment and will be evaluated on berm construction, robot mass, energy efficiency, dust tolerance and autonomous operation.

“Our robot is basically a frame with a bucket that’s centered on the frame,” said Zachary Vollman, a member of the COD Robotics team. “What it does to dig is it lowers the bucket using a vibration motor to vibrate the lunar regolith into the bucket. It will then lift up, drive to the depositing zone and dump through the rear of the robot.”

COD earned its invitation following the team’s performance at NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge in May, where it finished first in the Lunabotics Construction category.

“I feel very privileged to be able to go,” said Bridget Doherty, a member of the COD Robotics team. “Ideally, I just want to have fun while we’re there. I don’t want to stress about it too much. Our robot is good.”

For Meloche, the team’s participation represents more than an opportunity to compete. It also demonstrates what community college students can accomplish.

“Our students are competing on an international stage against some of the best university engineering teams in the world,” he said. “They are designing and building a sophisticated robot, solving complex engineering problems and demonstrating that innovation and technical excellence are not limited to four-year universities.”

The championship will take place at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and the Exolith Lab in Oviedo, Florida. The event will be livestreamed on the Florida Space Institute YouTube channel, with COD scheduled to compete at 2 p.m. Central Standard Time on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and Thursday, Oct. 29.

Learn more about the COD Robotics team.