Professor Danielle Wood took over leadership of the Zero Robotics Educational Outreach Program in 2020 at the invitation of the founders. Zero Robotics is an educational program that hosts tournaments to teach middle and high school students to write code and program with robots on the International Space Station (ISS). The program was founded over a decade ago by MIT’s Alvar Saenz-Otero, Jacob Katz and David Miller and co-led by a team from Innovation Learning Center and Aurora Flight Sciences, The Zero Robotics program originally allowed students to use robotics called SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites); this system was developed by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory, in conjunction with NASA, DARPA, and Aurora Flight Sciences, to provide a safe and reusable zero gravity platform to test sensor, control, and autonomy technologies for use in satellites. In 2022, the Zero Robotics summer program used the new free-flying robotic system Astrobee for the first time. Astrobee builds on the legacy of SPHERES and took over the tasks as SPHERES retired in 20… View full description
Professor Danielle Wood took over leadership of the Zero Robotics Educational Outreach Program in 2020 at the invitation of the founders. Zero Robotics is an educational program that hosts tournaments to teach middle and high school students to write code and program with robots on the International Space Station (ISS). The program was founded over a decade ago by MIT’s Alvar Saenz-Otero, Jacob Katz and David Miller and co-led by a team from Innovation Learning Center and Aurora Flight Sciences, The Zero Robotics program originally allowed students to use robotics called SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites); this system was developed by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory, in conjunction with NASA, DARPA, and Aurora Flight Sciences, to provide a safe and reusable zero gravity platform to test sensor, control, and autonomy technologies for use in satellites. In 2022, the Zero Robotics summer program used the new free-flying robotic system Astrobee for the first time. Astrobee builds on the legacy of SPHERES and took over the tasks as SPHERES retired in 2019. The Astrobee system was designed and built at NASA’s Ames Research Center for use inside the ISS.
This year's Zero Robotics program is sponsored by NASA, Aerospace Corporation, Aurora Flight Sciences, and the ISS National Laboratory which is operated by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. MIT collaborates with the Innovation Learning Center to implement Zero Robotics and serve students and educators.
Professor Danielle Wood took over leadership of the Zero Robotics Educational Outreach Program in 2020 at the invitation of the founders. Zero Robotics is an educational program that hosts tournaments to teach middle and high school students to write code and program with robots on the International Space Station (ISS). The program was founded over a decade ago by MIT’s Alvar Saenz-Otero, Jacob Katz and David Miller and co-led by a team from Innovation Learning Center and Aurora Flight Sciences, The Zero Robotics program originally allowed students to use robotics called SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites); this system was developed by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory, in conjunction with NASA, DARPA, and Aurora Flight Sciences, to provide a safe and reusable zero gravity platform to test sensor, control, and autonomy technologies for use in satellites. As SPHERES retired in 2019, the new free-flying robotic system Astrobee that builds on the legacy of SPHERES took over the tasks. The Astrobee system was designed and built at NASA’s Ames Research Center for use inside the ISS. MIT is working actively to upgrade the Zero robotics program with new Astrobee robots and successfully hold the middle school competition this year.
In summer 2022, Zero Robotics hold the first tournament with new robots Astrobee. The game challenge for this year is called “The Great Astro-Spelling-Bee”. Students are asked to use the trajectories of Astrobee to spell out a password needed to synchronously reboot the ISS power system during an EVA. The students need to select letters with complexity and length constraints and design the trajectories that can effectively and efficiently convey the required message. We have 20 teams and 180 middle school students participated in the 2022 middle school competition. During the event, MIT is also able to hold a field day for 3 local teams in Boston area. In-person activities related to the game challenge and a hands-on workshop on innovative coding are provided to students. The final competition is live streamed from the ISS on August 3rd, with students both in-person at local hosting locations and watching virtually.
This year's Zero Robotics program is sponsored by NASA, Aerospace Corporation, Aurora Flight Sciences, and the ISS National Laboratory which is operated by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. MIT collaborates with the Innovation Learning Center to implement Zero Robotics and serve students and educators.