DRIVE · AUTOMATION · ROBOTICS

INITIALISING DRIVE SYSTEMS00%
HSM Aries mission crew at Space Night
PERSONNEL / HSM ARIES

HSM Aries has no passengers.

22 student engineers, 2 principal advisors and 5 mentors at Hochschule Schmalkalden. The crew took LEAP-One to the ERC 2026 finals in Kraków — 17th place from 124 registered teams, with 25 finalists and 4th in documentation — and is now building Leap-2.

CREW MANIFEST22 STUDENT ENGINEERS02 PRINCIPAL ADVISORS05 MENTORS08 DEPARTMENTSERC 2026 FINALS · 17TH OF 25 · 1492.25 PTS
02 / PRINCIPAL ADVISORS

The two people
guiding the programme.

A faculty advisor at Hochschule Schmalkalden and an industry advisor from precision manufacturing anchor the programme.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Schrödel — Faculty Advisor
PRINCIPAL ADVISOR / 01

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Schrödel

Faculty Advisor

Professor Frank Schrödel provides the academic foundation for HSM Aries: laboratory access, research guidance and the institutional support needed for students to develop and test a rover. His expertise covers control engineering,…

Alexander Kolbai — Industry Advisor
PRINCIPAL ADVISOR / 02

Alexander Kolbai

Industry Advisor

Alexander brings an industry perspective to the principal-advisor team, supporting the programme’s attention to manufacturing, tolerances and the practical robustness of its hardware. His contribution complements the university’s academic…

03 / MENTOR COUNCIL

Specialist guidance
across the programme.

Harsha Vardhan Raju Gottimukkala — Team Lead LEAP-OneCommander rank insignia
04 / PROJECT COMMANDLEAP-ONE PROJECT COMMANDER

Harsha Vardhan Raju Gottimukkala

Team Lead LEAP-One

Harsha takes responsibility for the whole LEAP-One mission: keeping mechanical, electrical, software and science work moving towards a rover the team can operate together. His role spans department coordination, system integration and representing HSM Aries beyond the lab. At…

05 / DEPARTMENTS

Eight teams.
One integrated rover.

Eight departments built LEAP-One and are now designing Leap-2. Engineers who serve in more than one are listed in each; rank insignia are shown at primary posts only.

05.1 / MECHMechanical & Drivetrain badge

Mechanical & Drivetrain

04 CREWERC 2026 · mass −22 / 200, the only negative score in the field
05.2 / ELECElectrical & Power Systems badge

Electrical & Power Systems

06 CREW
Yash Lohar — Electrical & Power Systems Engineer

Yash Lohar

Electrical & Power Systems Engineer

Md Bashar — Electrical Hardware Specialist

Md Bashar

Electrical Hardware Specialist

05.3 / SOFTSoftware & Autonomy badge

Software & Autonomy

06 CREWERC 2026 · traverse 43 / 340 · exploration 123 / 340
05.4 / COMMCommunications & RF badge

Communications & RF

01 CREW
05.5 / DRILLDrill & Manipulator badge

Drill & Manipulator

04 CREWERC 2026 · maintenance 66 / 340 · probing 12 / 240
Rahul Kamatagi — Mechanical & Manipulator Specialist

Rahul Kamatagi

Mechanical & Manipulator Specialist

Also MECH
05.6 / ASTROAstroflight (AQUILA UAV) badge

Astroflight (AQUILA UAV)

04 CREWDeveloped with HSM Zenith, HSM’s aeronautical division · ERC 2026 navigation droning 265 / 300, 6th of 25
05.7 / SCIScientific Payload badge

Scientific Payload

03 CREWERC 2026 · AstroBio 215 / 300 · surface & deep sampling 197 / 440
05.8 / MROMission Resources & Outreach badge

Mission Resources & Outreach

02 CREWERC 2026 · documentation 364.25 / 400, 4th of 25 · presentation 229 / 300
The crew huddles around the control-station monitor in the pit tent, the table draped in the Thuringian and German flags.ERC 2026 / CONTROL STATION
06 / SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

Integrated by design.

Weekly design reviews align mechanical interfaces, power distribution, communications, autonomous software, scientific payloads and mission operations. Each subsystem is verified against shared requirements before vehicle-level integration.

CAD ↔ FABRICATIONPOWER ↔ CONTROLPERCEPTION ↔ MOTIONSCIENCE ↔ SAMPLING
PARTNERS / INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC
OPEN CALL / ALL SEMESTERS + DISCIPLINES

Your name belongs
on the next manifest.

Code in ROS 2, machine aluminium, design high-current PCBs, run science experiments or build partner relationships—there is a mission role for you.

Join the crewPartner with Aries