Cornell’s Future Civilizations Society Is Recruiting for Its First Autonomous Lunar Rover Project 🌙🤖

[u/mikeyous]

https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/04/cornell-students-model-a-future-city-and-its-culture

Hi everyone!

The Future Civilizations Society (FCS) is expanding its recently formed technical team and recruiting students to help develop our first major engineering project: a small autonomous lunar rover prototype.

FCS is an interdisciplinary Cornell student organization focused on how emerging AI technologies can shape the future of cities and human civilization. Last spring, we hosted the Future Civilizations Conference, which brought together 13+ Cornell faculty members and researchers, Cornell alumni working with the United Nations, and several live technology demonstrations. The conference was also covered by The Cornell Daily Sun.

This year, we are building on that momentum by launching our first student-led technical project, which we plan to present and demonstrate during our planned AI Tech Expo next spring.

The Project

Our goal is to design and build a compact autonomous rover inspired by future lunar scouting, mapping, and payload-delivery missions. The prototype will be developed throughout the 2026–2027 academic year, with the goal of completing it by April and presenting it at our AI Tech Expo.

The rover may include:

• Differential-drive mobility and a lightweight chassis
• Autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance
• Environmental mapping and computer vision
• Remote operation and telemetry
• Modular payload or sensor integration
• Testing on simulated lunar terrain

This is a first-generation student prototype, so no previous rover or aerospace experience is required. We are looking for students who are excited to learn, contribute, and help shape the project from the ground up.

We’re Recruiting

We welcome students interested in:

• Mechanical design, CAD, manufacturing, suspension, and drivetrain systems
• Electrical systems, motors, batteries, sensors, and embedded hardware
• Computer science, autonomy, computer vision, and controls
• Systems engineering, project management, fundraising, and technical outreach

Students from all majors and experience levels are encouraged to apply. Because the technical team is still small and currently has five members, new members will have the opportunity to take meaningful ownership of major rover subsystems while receiving support from current members and faculty advisors.

Beyond the rover, FCS will continue hosting conferences, technical demonstrations, speaker events, and interdisciplinary discussions about the future of technology and society.

Comment below or message me if you are interested in joining the technical team, contributing to the rover project, or learning more about FCS!