Not
to be confused with NASA's original RASC-AL Aerospace Concepts
competition, which is based upon conceptual designs on themes related to
space exploration, RASC-AL Exploration Robo-Ops (aka, Robo-Ops) is a
design competition in which participants are required to physically
build and test prototype planetary rovers at the NASA Johnson Space
Center's Rock Yard. You may be interested in viewing a brief,
45-second promotional video about Robo-Ops.
Student teams and their faculty advisors are invited to submit an online Notice of Intent (NOI) by September 23, 2015 and submit project plans of their rover concepts by October 3, 2015.
Based
on a review of the Project Plans by the Robo-Ops Steering Committee, up
to eight (8) qualifying teams will be selected to receive a $10,000
award to facilitate full participation in Robo-Ops, including expenses
for rover development, materials, testing equipment, hardware and
software.
At
the 2016 Robo-Ops Competition in Houston, the rovers will compete on a
simulated planetary environment under the supervision of NASA judges.
The remaining team members will stay behind at the local university to
tele-operate the rover remotely and conduct other "mission control"
tasks. Replicating how robots and astronauts will work together in the
near future on human space exploration missions, the prototype rovers
will be tele-operated by the teams' mission control centers via
real-time video feed from the rovers' on-board cameras. During the
competition, the rovers must negotiate a series of obstacles while
accomplishing relevant tasks within the given time.
Up to $12,000 in prize money is available to the winning teams!
For complete information on the 2016 Robo-Ops Competition, please review the 2016 Robo-Ops Competition Basics
document and view the Robo-Ops website.
