Some of the brightest student minds are gathering on the Space Coast, showing off their robotics skills for future NASA missions to Mars.
- Annual NASA competition brings robotics students to Space Coast
- Contest intended to pave way for humans to travel to Mars
- Robots must scoop more 'Martian' soil than other teams
And their work is "digging" the way for upcoming trips to the Red Planet.
Arsh Chauhan and his three teammates came all the way from the University of Alaska Fairbanks to enter their handmade robot in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition.
Their remote-controlled robot is made up of items you could find at almost any store — tupperware, PVC pipe and fabric.
"If we break something here in Florida, we can go to Lowes, Wal-Mart, any store in the neighborhood and buy replacement parts," Chauhan said.
When it was their turn in the competition, the team's lightweight, 72-pound creation scooped up dirt on the makeshift Martian terrain. The goal was to collect more in a short time period than 46 teams from across the country.
Besides being cool, there's a bigger picture to this event.
"We can't take everything to Mars. Water, food, that's about it, in limited supply. We will have to recycle, we will have to live off the land," Competition Project Manager Rich Johanboeke said.
These student-built robots are paving the way for that to happen when NASA sends people to the Red Planet in the coming decades. Mining robots will be able to take the consumables out of Martian soil, allowing astronauts to grow food, and dig up buried water and ice beneath the surface.
"That's something that draws me to this competition," Chauhan said.
Since the competition began eight years ago, 300 different robots created by more than 3,000 students have vied for the prizes.
