Children were able to have a go at controlling the robotic rover, which is driven using an Xbox controller, at a demonstration in the Golden Centre Mall on Saturday.
Victoria University outreach co-ordinator Pravin Vaz said the rover was based on Nasa Jet Propulsion Lab pre-made plans for the Perseverance rover, and cost about $5000 to build.
Getting hands-on with the rover gave children an insight into the difficulties of controlling the six-wheeled buggy.
‘‘[We wanted to] give people an idea of what challenges you could face on Mars with terrain and dust storms and different stuff.’’
When the robot was not starring in science demonstrations Victoria University used it to research potential applications in the forestry industry, he said.
Beth Elder (11), of Dunedin, had a turn driving the rover and said it was tricky to drive it around the traffic cones that had been set up.
She had been to several scientific events and it was ‘‘pretty fun’’ to be able to take part in the festival during the school holidays.
