Team Braundo of California, first to compete in the 2009 Lunar Regolith Challenge [New Scientist/MacGregor Campbell]Mark Whittington
The Examiner
NASA’s Regolith Excavation Challenge has concluded and there are three winners, first, second, and third place. According to Parabolic Arc, the winners are:
“Paul’s Robotics, Worcester, Massachusetts (439 kilograms – $500,000); Terra Engineering, Gardena, California (270.6 kilograms – $150,000); Braundo Rancho, Palos Verdes, California (263.75 kilograms – $100,000)”
The Regolith Excavation Challenge, as part of the Centennial Challenges program, took place over the weekend at Moffett Field in California. The goal was to use either a teleoperated or autonomous device to excavate at least 150 kilograms of simulated lunar regolith within thirty minutes. The Regolith Excavation Challenge was conducted on behalf of NASA by the California Space Education and Workforce Institute (CSEWI) with NASA providing the prize money. Twenty three teams competed for the prize money this year.
1 comment:
Not to take away from the ingenuity of the competitors and the sweet robots they built, but when NASA allowed competitors to use their own on-board (unlimited) power supplies and remote control, in my opinion they made the challenge too easy.
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