Photo credit: www.nasa.gov
Selected Teams for the Lunar Autonomy Challenge Announced
Excitement is building as 31 teams from various colleges and universities have been selected to participate in the upcoming Lunar Autonomy Challenge. This initiative involves 229 students across 15 states, who are set to showcase their innovative approaches to lunar exploration.
During the qualifying round, participants will engage in a virtual exploration of the Moon, utilizing a digital twin of NASA’s lunar mobility robot, known as the ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx). Each team will create software with the capability to execute designated tasks autonomously, navigating the challenges of the lunar environment, which includes low-light conditions and rugged terrain. The qualifying period will continue through to February 28, after which the highest-scoring teams will advance to the final round, with the winners to be announced in May 2025.
The Lunar Autonomy Challenge is a collaborative effort spearheaded by NASA, The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Caterpillar Inc., and Embodied AI, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation in the field of space exploration.
Learn more: https://lunar-autonomy-challenge.jhuapl.edu/
Participating Schools and Teams
Below is a list of the schools represented in the challenge:
School
City
State
American Public University System
Charles Town
West Virginia
Arizona State University
Tempe
Arizona
California Polytechnic Institute, Pomona (1)
Pomona
California
California Polytechnic Institute, Pomona (2)
Pomona
California
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Daytona Beach
Florida
Essex County College
Newark
New Jersey
Georgia Institute of Technology & Arizona State University
Atlanta & Tempe
Georgia & Arizona
Harvard University
Allston
Massachusetts
Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering
Baltimore
Maryland
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge
Massachusetts
New York University Tandon School of Engineering
Brooklyn
New York
North Carolina State University
Raleigh
North Carolina
Penn State (1)
University Park
Pennsylvania
Penn State (2)
University Park
Pennsylvania
Purdue University
West Lafayette
Indiana
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester
New York
Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute
Indiana
Stanford University
Stanford
California
Texas A&M University
College Station
Texas
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa
Alabama
University of Buffalo, State University of New York
Buffalo
New York
University of California, Stanislaus
Turlock
California
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (1)
Urbana
Illinois
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (2)
Urbana
Illinois
University of Maryland
College Park
Maryland
University of Pennsylvania (1)
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania (2)
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
University of Southern California & Stanford University
Los Angeles & Stanford
California
West Virginia University
Morgantown
West Virginia
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester
Massachusetts
Each participating team will play a crucial role in advancing autonomous technologies necessary for future lunar missions, contributing to the ongoing exploration of extraterrestrial environments.
Source
www.nasa.gov