NASA's Space Robotics Challenge: The Tasks, the Prizes, and How to Participate

Last year at the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals, NASA announced a new challenge for humanoid robots: the Space Robotics Challenge (SRC), which will "prepare robots for the journey to Mars." Just like the DRC, the first stage of the SRC will consist of a virtual challenge, run in the Gazebo simulator, followed up by a physical challenge using NASA's R5 Valkyrie robots. As of yesterday, NASA has opened registration for the SRC, and we'll take a look at the format of the competition, the challenges that teams will need to complete, and what they can take home for winning. The Space Robotics Challenge focuses on developing software to increase the autonomy of dexterous mobile robots--particularly those of humanoid format--so they can complete specific tasks during space travel or after landing on other planets (such as Mars), as well as on Earth. In the not too distant future, R5 has arrived on Mars along with supplies ahead of a human mission.