Garver To Attend Nasa $1.5 Million Robot Competition June 16

[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

 



June 11, 2012

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

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

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


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@xxxxxxxxx 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 

	
-end-



To subscribe to the list, send a message to: 
hqnews-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To remove your address from the list, send a message to:
hqnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Index of Archives]     [JPL News]     [Cassini News From Saturn]     [NASA Marshall Space Flight Center News]     [NASA Science News]     [James Web Space Telescope News]     [JPL Home]     [NASA KSC]     [NTSB]     [Deep Creek Hot Springs]     [Yosemite Discussion]     [NSF]     [Telescopes]

  Powered by Linux