Kibo Robot Programming Challenge Breaks New Ground in Robotics 

On Sept. 20, 2024, four students experienced the wonder of space exploration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, taking part in an international competition that brought their work to life aboard the International Space Station.  

Now in its fifth year, the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) continues to push the boundaries of robotics, bringing together the world’s brightest young minds for a real-world test of programming, problem-solving, and innovation.

The stakes reached new heights in this year’s competition, with 661 teams totaling 2,788 students from 35 countries and regions competing to program robots aboard the orbiting laboratory. Organized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the challenge provided a unique platform for students to test their skills on a global stage. 

Meet Team Salcedo 

Representing the U.S., Team Salcedo is composed of four talented students: Aaron Kantsevoy, Gabriel Ashkenazi, Justin Bonner, and Lucas Paschke. Each member brought a unique skill set and perspective, contributing to the team’s well-rounded approach to the challenge. 

The team was named in honor of Dr. Alvaro Salcedo, a robotics teacher and competitive robotics coach who had a significant impact on Kantsevoy and Bonner during high school. Dr. Salcedo played a crucial role in shaping their interests and aspirations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), inspiring them to pursue careers in these fields. 

Kantsevoy, a computer science major at Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, led the team with three years of Kibo-RPC experience and a deep interest in robotics and space-based agriculture. Bonner, a second-year student at the University of Miami, is pursuing a triple major in computer science, artificial intelligence, and mathematics. Known for his quick problem-solving, he played a key role as a strategist and computer vision expert. Paschke, a first-time participant and computer science student at Georgia Tech, focused on intelligence systems and architecture, and brought fresh insights to the table. Ashkenazi, also studying computer science at Georgia Tech, specialized in computer vision and DevOps, adding depth to the team’s technical capabilities. 

AstroBee Takes Flight 

The 2024 competition tasked students with programming AstroBee, a free-flying robot aboard the station, to navigate a complex course while capturing images scattered across the orbital outpost. For Team Salcedo, the challenge reached its peak as their code was tested live on the space station.  

The robot executed its commands in real time, maneuvering through the designated course to demonstrate precision, speed, and adaptability in the microgravity environment. Watching AstroBee in action aboard the space station offered a rare glimpse of the direct impact of their programming skills and added a layer of excitement that pushed them to fine-tune their approach. 

Overcoming Challenges in Real Time 

Navigating AstroBee through the orbital outpost presented a set of unique challenges. The team had to ensure the robot could identify and target images scattered throughout the station with precision while minimizing the time spent between locations.  

Using quaternions for smooth rotation in 3D space, they fine-tuned AstroBee’s movements to adjust camera angles and capture images from difficult positions without succumbing to the limitations of gimbal lock. Multithreading allowed the robot to simultaneously process images and move to the next target, optimizing the use of time in the fast-paced environment. 

The Power of Teamwork and Mentorship 

Working across different locations and time zones, Team Salcedo established a structured communication system to ensure seamless collaboration. Understanding each team member’s workflow and adjusting expectations accordingly helped them maintain efficiency, even when setbacks occurred. 

Mentorship was crucial to their success, with the team crediting several advisors and educators for their guidance. Kantsevoy acknowledged his first STEM mentor, Casey Kleiman, who sparked his passion for robotics in middle school.  

The team expressed gratitude to their Johnson mentors, including NASA Program Specialist Jamie Semple, Education Coordinator Kaylie Mims, and International Space Station Research Portfolio Manager Jorge Sotomayer, for guiding them through the program’s processes and providing support throughout the competition. 

They also thanked NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement for offering the opportunity to present their project to Johnson employees.  

“The challenge mirrors how the NASA workforce collaborates to achieve success in a highly technical environment. Team Salcedo has increased their knowledge and learned skills that they most likely would not have acquired individually,” said Semple. “As with all of our student design challenges, we hope this experience encourages the team to continue their work and studies to hopefully return to NASA in the future as full-time employees.” 

Pushing the Boundaries of Innovation 

The Kibo-RPC allowed Team Salcedo to experiment with new techniques, such as Slicing Aided Hyperinference—an approach that divides images into smaller tiles for more detailed analysis. Although this method showed promise in detecting smaller objects, it proved too time-consuming under the competition’s time constraints, teaching the students valuable lessons about prioritizing efficiency in engineering. 

For Team Salcedo, the programming challenge taught them the value of communication, the importance of learning from setbacks, and the rewards of perseverance. The thrill of seeing their code in action on the orbital outpost was a reminder of the limitless possibilities in robotics and space exploration. 

Inspiring the Next Generation 

With participants from diverse backgrounds coming together to compete on a global platform, the Kibo-RPC continues to be a proving ground for future innovators.  

The challenge tested the technical abilities of students and fostered personal growth and collaboration, setting the stage for the next generation of robotics engineers and leaders. 

As Team Salcedo looks ahead, they carry with them the skills, experiences, and inspiration needed to push the boundaries of human space exploration.  

“With programs like Kibo-RPC, we are nurturing the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation,” said Sotomayer. “It’s not far-fetched to imagine that one of these students could eventually be walking on the Moon or Mars.” 

The winners were announced virtually from Japan on Nov. 9, with Team Salcedo achieving sixth place. 

Watch the international final round event here. 

For more information on the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge, visit: https://jaxa.krpc.jp/

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Sumer Loggins

Native American Seeds Flown Aboard Space Station

The Choctaw Heirloom Seeds investigation flew five varieties of heirloom seeds from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma aboard the International Space Station in early November 2023. The seeds are Isito (Choctaw Sweet Potato Squash), Tobi (Smith Peas), Tanchi Tohbi (Flour Corn), Tvnishi (Lambsquarter), and Chukfi Peas. The seeds spent six months aboard station, returning to Earth in April 2024.

Next spring, Jones Academy students will plant the space-flown seeds alongside Earth-bound seeds of the same type in the school’s Growing Hope Garden. Students will hypothesize how the seeds will grow and make observations throughout the growing season.

Middle school teachers are developing curriculum incorporating the seeds’ journey to space station and students’ experiments in the garden. This research could impact Native and Indigenous populations across the United States, inviting underrepresented groups to engage with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Image credit: NASA/Loral O’Hara

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Monika Luabeya

NASA Funds New Studies Looking at Future of Sustainable Aircraft

Picture yourself at an airport a few decades from now. What does your airliner look like? It’s more efficient, with lower emissions than today’s aircraft – what kinds of designs or technology make that possible? NASA is working to answer those questions by commissioning five new design studies looking to push the boundaries of possibility for sustainable aircraft. 

Through NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative, the agency asked industry and academia to come up with studies looking at aircraft concepts, key technologies, and designs that could offer the transformative solutions needed to secure commercial aviation’s sustainable future by 2050. NASA issued five awards, worth a total of $11.5 million, to four companies and one university. These new NASA-funded studies will help the agency identify and select promising aircraft concepts and technologies for further investigations. 

“Through initiatives like AACES, NASA is positioned to harness a broad set of perspectives about how to further increase aircraft efficiency, reduce aviation’s environmental impact and enhance U.S. technological competitiveness in the 2040s, 2050s, and beyond,” said Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “As a leader in U.S. sustainable aviation research and development, these awards are one example of how we bring together the best ideas and most innovative concepts from the private sector, academia, research agencies, and other stakeholders to pioneer the future of aviation.” 

For decades, NASA has connected government agencies, industry, and academia to develop sustainable aviation technologies. In 2021, NASA launched its Sustainable Flight National Partnership, focused on technologies that could be incorporated into aircraft by the 2030s. The partnership’s research and development led to current NASA work including the experimental X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator aircraft, its Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, and the development of more efficient engine cores and processes for the rapid manufacturing of lightweight composite materials. 

The new AACES awards are initiating a similar process, but on a longer timeline, focusing on technologies to help transform aviation beyond SFNP with aircraft that could enter service by 2050. The kinds of partnerships NASA develops through SFNP and AACES are critical for the agency to support the U.S. goal of net-zero aviation emissions by 2050 and to help put aviation on a path toward energy-resilience. 

“The AACES 2050 solicitation drew significant interest from the aviation community and as a result the award process was highly competitive,” said Nateri Madavan, director for NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program. “The proposals selected come from a diverse set of organizations that will provide exciting and wide-ranging explorations of the scenarios, technologies, and aircraft concepts that will advance aviation towards its transformative sustainability goals.” 

The AACES 2050 awards went to organizations that will form networks of university and corporate partners to advance their studies. NASA expects the awardees to complete their studies by mid-2026. The new awardee institutions are: 

• Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, whose team will perform a comprehensive, “open-aperture” exploration of technologies and aircraft concepts for the 2050 timeframe. This will include examining new alternative aviation fuels, propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies, and aircraft configurations along with other technology areas that arise throughout the study. 

• The Electra-led team will explore extending Electra’s novel distributed electric propulsion and its unique aerodynamic design capabilities to develop innovative wing and fuselage integrations that deliver sustainable aviation focused on enabling community-friendly emission reduction, noise reduction, and improved air travel access. The company’s existing small aircraft prototype has been flying for over a year, demonstrating Electra’s technology that aims to transform air travel with reduced environmental impact and improved operational efficiency. 

• Georgia Institute of Technology will perform a comprehensive exploration of sustainability technologies, including alternative fuels, propulsion systems, and aircraft configurations. The institute’s team will then explore new aircraft concepts incorporating the selected technologies with their Advanced Technology Hydrogen Electric Novel Aircraft (ATH2ENA) as a starting point.  

• JetZero will explore technologies that enable cryogenic, liquid hydrogen to be used as a fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These technologies will be evaluated on both tube-and wing and JetZero’s blended wing body – an airplane shape that provides more options for larger hydrogen fuel tanks within the aircraft. 

• Pratt and Whitney a division of RTX Corporation, will explore a broad suite of commercial aviation propulsion technologies targeting thermal and propulsive efficiency improvements to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Pratt & Whitney team will then down-select high-priority and alternative propulsion concepts for potential integration studies with various airframe concepts for aircraft in 2050 and beyond. 

AACES 2050 is part of NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project, which explores and develops technology to further NASA’s vision for the future development of fixed-wing transport aircraft with revolutionary energy efficiency. The project falls under NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, which evaluates and develops technologies for new aircraft systems and explores promising air travel concepts. 

Explore More

4 min read

Interview with OCEANOS Instructor María Fernanda Barbarena-Arias

Article


2 days ago

3 min read

Interview with OCEANOS Instructor Samuel Suleiman

Article


2 days ago

4 min read

Interview with OCEANOS Instructor Roy Armstrong

Article


2 days ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Humans In Space

Quesst: The Vehicle

Explore NASA’s History

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Lillian Gipson

NASA Armstrong Builds Sensor Pod for Autonomous Flight

The design and build of a unique NASA pod, produced to advance computer vision for autonomous aviation, was recently completed in-house at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, by using the center’s unique fabrication capabilities. The pod is called the NASA Airborne Instrumentation for Real-world Video of Urban Environments (AIRVUE). NASA Armstrong can take an idea from a drawing to flight with help from the center’s Experimental Fabrication Shop.  

NASA subject matter experts developed the idea for the project, after which engineers drew up plans and selected materials. The Experimental Fabrication Shop received those plans and gathered the materials to fabricate the pod.  

After the pod was built, it moved to NASA Armstrong’s Engineering Support Branch, where electronics technicians and other specialists installed instruments inside of it. Once completed, the pod went through a series of tests at NASA Armstrong to make sure it was safe to fly at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on an Airbus H135 helicopter. The engineering team made final adjustments to ensure the pod would collect the correct data prior to installation. More about the design and fabrication process, and the pod’s capabilities, is available to view in a NASA video.

Explore More

5 min read

NASA Funds New Studies Looking at Future of Sustainable Aircraft

Article


2 hours ago

4 min read

Interview with OCEANOS Instructor María Fernanda Barbarena-Arias

Article


2 days ago

3 min read

Interview with OCEANOS Instructor Samuel Suleiman

Article


2 days ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Aeronautics

Advanced Air Mobility Mission

NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) research will transform our communities by bringing the movement of people and goods off the ground, on…

Armstrong Capabilities & Facilities

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Dede Dinius

NASA Johnson Director to Speak at Space Institute Groundbreaking

Nov. 12, 2024

Director Vanessa Wyche of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will join Texas A&M University leaders and guests Friday, Nov. 15, to break ground for the new Texas A&M University Space Institute.

U.S. media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, by calling 281-483-5111 or emailing: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

The groundbreaking is planned for 10 a.m. CST Nov. 15, at Johnson Space Center’s Exploration Park. Additional participants will include:

• Greg Bonnen, Texas House of Representatives, chairman of House Appropriations Committee
• William Mahomes, Jr., Board of Regents chairman, Texas A&M University System 
• John Sharp, chancellor Texas A&M University System 
• General (Ret.) Mark Welsh III, president, Texas A&M University 
• Robert H. Bishop, vice chancellor and dean, Texas A&M Engineering
• Nancy Currie-Gregg, director, Texas A&M University Space Institute
• Robert Ambrose, associate director for space and robotics initiatives, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station 

The institute, funded through a $200 million initial investment from the State of Texas, will support research for civilian, defense and commercial space missions as part of NASA Johnson’s Exploration Park. Key features will include the world’s largest indoor simulation spaces for lunar and Mars surface operations, state-of-the-art high-bay laboratories, and multifunctional project rooms.

The Texas A&M Space Institute is set to open in Summer 2026. 

NASA is leasing the 240-acre Exploration Park to create facilities that enable a collaborative development environment, increase commercial access, and enhance the United States’ commercial competitiveness in the space and aerospace industries. 

To learn more about NASA Johnson and the Texas A&M University Space Institute, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/nasas-johnson-space-center-hosts-exploration-park

-end-

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

281-483-5111

kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Wendy K. Avedisian