Garver To Attend Nasa $1.5 Million Robot Competition June 16

June 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


MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-110

GARVER TO ATTEND NASA $1.5 MILLION ROBOT COMPETITION JUNE 16

WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and NASA Chief
Technologist Mason Peck will be on hand Saturday, June 16, at the
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) as six teams of engineers from
across the country compete for agency-funded prize of $1.5 million.
Garver will join congressional and local officials during opening
ceremonies at 10 a.m. EDT on the campus of WPI in Worcester, Mass.

Media wanting to attend the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Challenge
should contact Tom Bradley of WPI at 860-967-5357 or
tbradleypr@yahoo.com for media credentials. Garver's remarks also
will be available via live streaming video on the agency's web at:


http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-hq

Part of NASA's Centennial Challenges prize competitions, the Sample
Return Robot challenge, is to design and develop the next generation
of autonomous robots to explore the landscapes of other worlds.
Competing teams are required to 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.

During the first phase of the competition, a robot must autonomously
navigate and retrieve a pre-cached sample within 15 minutes. 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 as much as $1.5 million during this phase, with awards depending
on the amount of points scored and number of successful competing
finalists.

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

http://www.nasa.gov/challenges

WPI is the first university selected as host and manager for one of
NASA's Centennial Challenges Programs. For more information about WPI
and the TouchTomorrow learning events the university is hosting in
conjunction with the robot competition, visit:

http://www.wpi.edu

and

http://touchtomorrow.wpi.edu


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