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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