Robots Face Off in $1.5 Million NASA Sample Return Challenge

[Buster's Uncle]

Robots Face Off in $1.5 Million NASA Sample Return Challenge
SPACE.com
By Elizabeth Howell  1 hour ago



A robot built by the team Formicarum rolls off its starting platform during a level one rerun at NASA's 2015 Sample Return Robot Challenge on Friday, June 12, at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass. Sixteen teams are co



Robot-toting teams faced off in a NASA contest this week to see which automaton has the right stuff for working on Mars or other locations in the solar system.

The fourth NASA Sample Return Robot Challenge, which ends today (June 13), offers a grand prize of $1.5 million to the winning team able to demonstrate robots that can collect geologic samples without any human help at all.

Developing technologies in autonomous navigation and robotic dexterity is one of the main goals of the challenge, NASA officials explained in a statement. The teams, which include universities and small businesses, have been facing off all week at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass.

"With missions to other planets and deeper space in our sights, it is increasingly valuable and necessary to see these technologies through," Sam Ortega, program manager for Centennial Challenges at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement.

"Robots are our pioneers, and solving this challenge will be a breakthrough for future space exploration."

There are two levels of competition available this year. In 2013 and 2014, the winners of Level 1 –  Team Survey of Los Angeles in 2013 and the West Virginia Mountaineers of Morgantown – each received $5,000. These teams can each compete at Level 2 this year.

Other returning teams include:
Formicarum of Worcester, Massachusetts
Gather of Alexandria,Virginia
Lunambotics of Mexico City
Middleman of Dunedin, Florida.
Oregon State University of Corvallis
The Retrievers of Schenectady, New York
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rock Raiders of Troy, New York
Wunderkammer of Topanga, California

New teams in 2015 are:
Army of Angry Robots of Silicon Valley, California
DT Bozzelli of Ann Arbor, Michigan
MAXed OUT of San Jose, California
Mind and Iron of Needham, Massachusetts
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Robotics Team of Cambridge
RoboRetrievers of Tampa, Florida
Sirius of South Hadley, Massachusetts
Smart Move of Clearwater, Florida
Smart Tools of Gurnee, Illinois
National Autonomous University of Mexico


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