Case Study: Lycée Victor Duruy achieves a life-size Mars Curiosity rover and interschool collaboration with SolidWorks (SOLIDWORKS Education Edition)

Making the mars curiosity rover in class with solidworks education edition software

Lycée Victor Duruy in Bagnères-de-Bigorre partnered with 16 other schools in the Toulouse educational authority to design and manufacture a life-size replica of NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover as part of a two-year BTS technical diploma project. The main challenge was coordinating cross-disciplinary teams and providing a single integrated platform for design, simulation, and manufacturing — the steering committee selected SolidWorks Education Edition to meet those needs.

Using SolidWorks Education Edition (with SolidWorks Simulation for testing), students designed, simulated, machined, and assembled the rover’s subassemblies, enabling the Lycée Victor Duruy team to win the first-year mast design competition, drive collaboration across 17 schools, and complete a full-scale Curiosity replica showcased at the 2009 Paris Air Show. SolidWorks helped deliver measurable outcomes: a finished life‑size rover, hands-on experience for BTS students, successful interschool teamwork, and a project that spanned classroom learning to real-world production.

Lycée Victor Duruy

Stéphane Rivola

Technical Adviser