The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Engagement (OSTEM) invites the NASA Space Grant community, academia, and industry to consider the newly released Phase 2 of the Space Robotics Challenge.
Interested teams that wish to compete may now register on the official Challenge site. Registration will close at 5:00pm Central Time on December 20, 2019.
NASA Centennial Challenges is a program of prize competitions to stimulate innovation in technologies of interest and value to NASA and the nation. NASA is providing the prize purse, and the Manned Space Flight Education Foundation, Inc. (i.e., Space Center Houston) will be conducting the Challenge on behalf of NASA.
The focus of SRC Phase 2 is on the ability of virtual robotic systems to perform a long-term fully-autonomous ISRU mission for the Moon. This challenge will require competitors to develop software that allows a team of virtual robots (i.e., virtual robotic team) to operate fully autonomously for a specified length of time. The Competition Rounds will be carried out in a robotic simulation format, using Open Robotics’ Gazebo and Robot Operating System (ROS) platforms.
The challenge will consist of a Qualification Round and a Competition Round. Both rounds will require fully autonomous operations, such that competitors will not be able to interact with their virtual robotic teams during a challenge run. Each round will be scored and prizes will be awarded form a prize purse of up to $1,000,000 USD per the criteria in the Official Challenge Rules. Official documentation related to this Challenge can be found here.
NASA welcomes applications from individuals, teams, and organization or entities that meet the eligibility requirements as stated in the Official Challenge Rules.
This email is being sent on behalf of the Centennial Challenges program and is intended as an informational announcement to the science and research communities.
Thank you for your continued interest in NASA. Please refer to the Challenge Website for contact information.