Valkyrie: NASA’s Superhero Robot
On August 16, 2016 NASA in partnership with Space Center Houston announced a $1 million prize competition to develop and advance software for a dexterous humanoid robot modeled after NASA’s Valkyrie Robonaut 5 (R5) robot. It will need to succeed in a series of tasks involving communication delays and periods of latency from Earth to Mars.
NASA hopes to push the boundaries in human exploration in space and benefit life on Earth by improving R5 technology to function in dangerous and extreme environments on Earth and beyond.
What Is The Competition Scenario?
Resolve the aftermath of a dust storm that has damaged a Martian habitat. This involves 3 objectives.
- Aligning a communications dish
- Repairing a solar array
- Fixing a habitat leak
Registration for the Space Robotics Challenge began August 16. A Qualifying round will run from mid-September to mid-November. Finalists will be announced in December and will commence in open practice from January to early June 2017. The final competition will take place in a virtual environment and be held in June 2017. Winners will be announced at the end of June at Space Center Houston.
Reference material and additional information can be found here.
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/feature/space_robotics_challenge.html