NASA $1.5 Million Robot Competition Rolls Onto WPI Campus June 14-17

May 11, 2012

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
david.steitz@nasa.gov

Janet L. Anderson
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
janet.l.anderson@nasa.gov

Tom Bradley
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.
860-967-5357
tbradleypr@yahoo.com


RELEASE: 12-154

NASA $1.5 MILLION ROBOT COMPETITION ROLLS ONTO WPI CAMPUS JUNE 14-17

WASHINGTON -- Autonomous robots created by 11 teams of engineers from
across the country will compete for a NASA prize purse of $1.5
million on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in
Worcester, Mass., June 14 -17. The challenge: design and develop the
next generation of robots to explore the landscapes of other worlds.

The NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Challenge requires the competing
teams to design and build an autonomous robotic system that will
locate and collect a set of specific objects from a large area and
return the "planetary samples" to the starting zone.

The innovative technologies the teams bring forward can help NASA in
future exploration of distant planets while also potentially
benefiting life here on Earth. Earthly benefits could include areas
such as disaster recovery and mitigation and remote exploration and
mapping of hazardous terrains.

The NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot goals are to discover innovative new
technologies to advance robot navigation and sample collection
without human control, and demonstrate robotic transportation over
varied terrain without the aid of GPS or other Earth-based systems.
The competition also will empower educators and people of all ages by
introducing robotics and how they work, where they work, and
real-world applications of how robots will be used the future.

The competition's roving area includes open rolling terrain, soft
soils, a variety of rocks and immovable obstacles such as trees,
large rocks and water hazards. Teams will be given maps with
appropriate orbital resolution, including the location of the
starting position and a pre-cached sample, but will have no control
of the robots during the competition.

Robots will have to identify and collect samples and return them to
their starting point. Samples will have different point values.
Prizes will be determined based on the scores for the number and
point value of samples collected and returned to the starting
location.

During the first phase of the competition, a robot must autonomously
navigate and retrieve a pre-cached sample within 15minutes. Teams
will compete for portions of a $50,000 total prize purse, with a
maximum winning value of $5,000 per team.

In the second phase, a robot must autonomously navigate and retrieve
pre-cached samples as well as other, more difficult samples
distributed over the roving area within two hours. Teams will compete
for up to $1.5 million during this phase, with awards depending on
the amount of points scored and number of successful competing
finalists.

WPI is the first university selected as host and manager for one of
NASA's Centennial Challenges Programs, which promotes technical
innovation through novel prize competitions. NASA chose WPI to run
this Centennial Challenge because of its proven experience managing
robotics competitions, its academic expertise in robotics
engineering, and its leadership in science, technology, engineering
and mathematic education.

NASA uses prize competitions to establish important technical
challenges without having to specify the approach that is most likely
to succeed, while only paying for successful results. These
competitions increase the number and diversity of individuals,
organizations and teams that are addressing a particular problem or
challenge of national or international significance. These challenges
stimulate private sector investment many times greater than the cash
value of the prize.

Media wanting to attend the NASA-WPI Sample Robot Return Challenge
should contact Tom Bradley of WPI at 860-967-5357 or at
tbradleypr@yahoo.com for press credentials.

The Centennial Challenges are part of NASA's Space Technology Program.
For more information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/challenges

For more information about WPI, visit:

http://www.wpi.edu
and http://touchtomorrow.wpi.edu


-end-



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