NASA and DARPA Sponsor Zero Robotics Competition

TopCoder is working with MIT Space Systems Lab and Aurora Flight Sciences for organising the Zero Robotics competition.

The event is being sponsored by NASA and DARPA. The Zero Robotics competition is a platform for students to compete on their software skills for operating miniature robots called SPHERES (Synchronised Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites). The top 27 entries would have their software sent to the ISS where an astronaut would program SPHERES with the codes and test its functionality.

TopCoder has been successful in conducting online programming competitions, which produce high quality software. These competitions inspire students to come forward with innovative software ideas and turn them into reality by testing them on real time space machines. By participating in the Zero Robotics Competition, high school students would have access to sophisticated research facilities at the ISS. The participants must have a reasonable understanding of the concepts that make satellites work together by flying in formations and docking. Large satellite groups are used to create giant telescope mirrors that are stationed in space and are capable of functioning without human intervention.