Energy levels were high as more than 60 middle school students and their teachers from around central Florida gathered in the conference facility at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in Florida to view the Zero Robotics competition finals Aug. 15 and cheer on the regional winner from the sunshine state.
The regional winners from Carver Middle School in Orlando, part of the Orlando After School All-Stars, joined other teams around the country via WebEx as Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman oversaw the live competition on the International Space Station.
“The Zero Robotics challenge has been a life-changing experience for many of the students,” said Shauna Tulloch, Carver Middle School teacher. “They acquired an interest in and became engaged in math and science skills.”
The students also received a visit from former astronaut and Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana, and Greg Johnson, former astronaut and executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space.
“The main thing is you’re learning something and having fun,” Cabana said. “Do what you enjoy doing. Follow your passion and never give up.”
Zero Robotics is a robotics programming competition using Synchronized Position, Hold, Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES), which are already operational on the space station. The competition starts online, where teams register and program the SPHERES to solve an annual challenge.
The competition helps to reinforce science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills.
“Observing the SPHERES competition gave the students an exciting, out-of-this-world experience at Kennedy and exposed them to engineers and scientists to further encourage them to pursue careers in STEM fields,” said Samantha Thorstensen, an education specialist with the Astronaut Memorial Foundation. She also is the STEM director for the Florida Afterschool Network.
This year’s challenge involved maneuvering through a field of incoming comets, picking up laser packs along the way to help refuel and collecting debris to change the gravitational pull. Student-programmed software controls satellite speed, rotation and direction of travel.
After several phases of virtual competition in a simulated environment that mimics the real SPHERES, finalists’ entries are selected to compete in a live championship aboard the space station. The programs are autonomous; the students cannot control the satellites on the ground during the test itself.
Zero Robotics has two types of tournaments. The high school tournament is geared toward students in grades 9-12. The middle school summer program is a five-week program for younger students who learn to program through a graphical interface.
“Zero Robotics has been an amazing program to work with through the Florida Afterschool Network and MIT. I am truly inspired by the dedication and perseverance of our Florida teams and can’t wait for next year’s challenge,” Thorstensen said.
The Florida regional runner-up was BOK Academy in Lake Wales. The third-place winner was Southern Oaks Middle School in Port St. Lucie.
Throughout the day, the students were treated to presentations on NASA’s VEGGIE plant growth system and Slosh, quantum levitation demonstrations and a FIRST competition overview. They also met the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex spaceperson.