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What is SPHERES?

What is SPHERES?. A Facility of the ISS National Laboratory with three nano-satellites designed by MIT to research estimation, control, and autonomy algorithms By working aboard ISS under crew supervision, it provides a risk-tolerant environment The satellites can be reused

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What is SPHERES?

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  1. What is SPHERES? • A Facility of the ISS National Laboratory with three nano-satellites designed by MIT to research estimation, control, and autonomy algorithms • By working aboardISS under crewsupervision, it providesa risk-tolerantenvironment • The satellites can bereused • Replenishableconsumables • Multiple test sessionsassigned per year • If anything goes wrong,reset and try again! If you can’t bring the space environment to the laboratory, take the laboratory to space!

  2. What is Zero Robotics • A competition designed to allow Middle- and High-school students unprecedented access to the International Space Station through SPHERES • Teams of students work to program the SPHERES satellite to win an MIT-designed game • The teams go through multiple elimination rounds; the top teams see their code tested aboard the ISS If SPHERES is so “risk tolerant”, why can’t grade-school students use it? … they can!

  3. What is Zero Robotics…from space!

  4. Apr-Sep Registration Sep 2D Simulation Oct 2D Ground Demo 3D Sim. Elimination Nov Alliances Dec-Jan Virtual Finals 3D Semi-Finals ISS Finals! High School Tournament • Fall Semester Tournament • A complementary “software” competition to FIRST Robotics • Mostly an “afterschool club” • Mentors are teachers and local engineer volunteers • Assumed that Mentors can teach programming • Full programming experience • Both graphical and text programming available • ZR provides basic online tutorials • ZR Team supports online only • MIT undergraduates support online (e-mail, forums) • Forums allow teams to support each other Semester-long open national program with online support

  5. 2011 ISS Finals

  6. ZR Budget

  7. Backup Slides

  8. Middle-School Overview • 5-week summer program • Usually part of an afterschool / community organization program • In past geared towards under-represented & low-income students • Designed to work as a stand-alone program or part of a larger summer camp • Official “summer school teachers” are not required to be in the engineering/match/science areas • Basic programming skills • Goal is to teach strategy (algorithm) techniques • Limited programming - developed “visual” interface • Attempted C programming with limited success in 2011 • Current implementation assigns one “SPHERES Expert” mentor to each team • An MIT undergraduate learns to use SPHERES and program the game in the early summer • Goes to help the official teacher in “daily attendance” during the 5 weeks of the program • Mentors the students on programming, like a “coach” • Working on a complete curriculum (printed & online materials) to not need a mentor • Schedule • Spring: game planning/programming • June: Mentor training • July/Aug: 5 week Program • August: ISS Finals 5 Week Summer Program withstrict selection and mentor support

  9. ZR Growth • European Pilot • 21 teams • Two elimination rounds • 2009 • 2 schools • 13 students • No elimination rounds • 2010 • 24 schools • >200 students • Two elimination rounds • 2011 • 122 teams • >1000 students • Two elimination rounds From 2 to over 140 schools in 3 years!

  10. The parts of Zero Robotics • All Zero Robotics Competitions have: • Several elimination rounds • Finalists’ code is tested aboard the ISS • High School (grades 9-12) Tournament • National open competition • Runs through the Fall (Sep to Dec) • Middle School (6-8) Summer Program • Five week summer program • Programming and physics/math curriculum • Currently requires substantial help to summer-school teachers • Mentors assigned to each participating school • Centered regionally around locations which can provide the necessary support. • 2012 “Special” Algorithm Challenge:Autonomous Space Capture • General public access (age 13+; any location) • Game designed so that participants help create an algorithm for SPHERES (e.g. docking) • Four week program with weekly milestones • Objective: • Dock with a space object that may be tumbling • Starts March 28! Two programs: High-school and Middle School

  11. Contact Information MIT Investigators Prof. David W. Miller, PI Alvar Saenz Otero, Lead Scientist MIT Science Team Jacob Katz (PhD) Sreeja Nag (MS) Sonny Thai (MS) Swati Mohan (PhD, alum) MAP Katie Magrane, Director AFS Javier de Luis Jim Francis Jaime Ramirez John Merk Top Coder Ira Heffan Mike Lydon Ambi del Villar NASA ARC Bruce Yost, Program Manager Andres Martinez, Project Manager Steve Ormsby, Operations Lead Acknowledgements NASA HQ & Education Office Dr. Lorna Finman Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff spheres@mit.edu http://ssl.mit.edu/spheres zerorobotics@mit.edu http://zerorobotics.mit.edu

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