OPTIMIZED SYSTEMS

Win $1.5M From NASA for Smarter Robot

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 09-21-11 | Comments

NASA wants to crowd-source robot design by inviting teams from around the country to compete in a Centennial Challenge to create a replacement for the current crop of sample-collecting robots on Mars. The winner will take home the $1.5 million purse, so gear up fast because early registration is now open.

NASA this week announced the Sample Return Robot Challenge, which aims to encourage U.S. teams to design a better sample-collecting robot for missions to the Moon and Mars. The contest has a $1.5 million purse.

The contest will be funded by NASA and administrated by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which claims to be the only U.S. university that offers bachelor�s, master�s and doctoral degrees in robotics.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander explored the icy soil of Mars' northern plains, but alas in the end succumbed to ice damage on its solar cells, shutting down all operations in 2010.

The robots must weigh less than 80 kg (176 lbs.), measure less than 1.5 m on a side (5 ft.) and be able to retrieve 5-kg (11-lb.) geological samples. To test the entries, the robots will compete on an 80,000-square-meter (about 20-acre) outdoor course. There, the robots will need to automatically traverse the field seeking a variety of geological samples.

The robots will start from a standardized platform, to which they will return with any collected samples using a separate standard-sized homing beacon. All samples must be collected without any human intervention, although a wireless "pause" button will be required so that judges can keep robots from bumping into each other. Also a big red "emergency stop" button is required to prevent injuries; there is also a clearly marked master on/off switch.

During the competition, robot entries will be awarded points based on their ability to collect geological samples. The point structure is one, two, or five points for, respectively, an easy, intermediate, or hard-to-retrieve sample. The first robot to collect 15 points wins the $1.5 million. (If no robot collects 15 points, a sliding scale will divide the purse according to score.)

NASA claims that the contest will only judge robots according to their performance in collecting geological samples. However, it expects that insights gained from novel solutions to the sample-collection problem will not only enable better space-exploration robots, but will also profit the budding terrestrial industry for service robots.

Specific innovations are expected in both autonomous navigation algorithms as well as in the physical robotic manipulator technologies used to extract samples from the environment and return them to the "ship" (which is simulated by the standard-sized starting platform and homing beacon).

To date, there have been 21 NASA Centennial Challenges since 2005, resulting in the distribution of over $4.5 million in prize money to 13 different challenge-winning teams. Winners have included private companies, student groups and independent inventors.