28/06/2010
The MoonBots: Google Lunar X PRIZE LEGO MINDSTORMS Challenge has now completed the first part of the big contest.
In Phase One 212 teams signed up to be part of the great challenge to create robots for a simulated Lunar exploration using LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sets. Teams have submitted their project proposals for how they would approach a Lunar mission, through a team video, robot designs using CAD programs (for making 3-dimensional constructions) and also fun facts about themselves.
A team of judges from the X PRIZE Foundation and the LEGO Group have had a really hard time selecting the 20 teams that has now made it into Phase Two.
For Phase Two the X PRIZE Foundation and the LEGO Group have found several members of the expert judging panel that will decide upon the grand prize winners. Included among them are X PRIZE Foundation Trustees Anousheh Ansari, entrepreneur and private astronaut and Dean Kamen, inventor, entrepreneur, and founder of the FIRST robotics competitions. Also judging are Steve Hassenplug, Master LEGO robot builder and Jeff Kodosky, co-Founder of National Instruments, who co-develops the software for the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT, based on their graphical programming language, LabVIEW.
“The quality of work in Phase One was extremely high. All of our finalist teams are extraordinarily capable, so we expect the robots they build and the research they conduct to be extremely professional. Our expert judges have their work cut out for them!” said William Pomerantz, Senior Director of Space Prizes for the X PRIZE Foundation.
Go to www.moonbots.org to see which teams have made it into the final phase of the MoonBots contest.
To learn more about the Google Lunar X PRIZE check www.xprize.org.
The MoonBots: Google Lunar X PRIZE LEGO MINDSTORMS Challenge is created in a partnership between Google, Inc., the X PRIZE Foundation, the LEGO Group, National Instruments and WIRED.