The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are inviting students from developing economies and economies in transition that are Member States of the United Nations interested in software programming and robotics to participate in its fourth mission Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC).
The Kibo-RPC is an educational opportunity where students will obtain and test their programming skills to solve various problems by moving free-frying robots (Astrobee and Int-Ball) in a simulation environment.
Previously, consecutive Kibo-RPC challenges were only accessible to students in Asia-Pacific countries that are part of the Kibo-ABC initiative. However, from the 4th mission of Kibo-RPC held in 2023, UNOOSA has decided to join the existing Kibo-RPC framework, to make the challenge available to teams from developing economies and economies in transition that are Member States of the United Nations.
Furthermore, the goal is to encourage students to improve their programming and robotics techniques and methods while advancing their interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills. To this end, by controlling actual robots in the International Space Station (ISS) based on hypotheses simulated in advance, students will also learn about the importance of bridging the gap between simulation and reality.
Selection Criteria
Applicants will participate in preliminary rounds, and the selected teams will be able to have their programmes run on the free-flying robots in the final round at the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Eligibility
Students from countries/regions that are NOT Kibo-RPC participating countries/regions but are from or belong to institutions in developing economies and economies in transition can register from the UNOOSA international slot.
However, participating teams must check the JAXA Kibo-RPC 4th mission website, especially the guidebook, to check if they are eligible to join and for more information.
Deadline
Registration Deadline: 14 May 2023, 16:59 CEST
Additional Information
Due to the anticipated volume of participants, UNOOSA will only open registration and participation for 50 teams; thus, this is on a first-come-first-serve basis. Therefore, once the 50-team capacity is filled, the registration may close before the deadline.
Furthermore, once your application has been accepted, you will receive an email containing your login ID. In addition, you will receive the password that enables you to access JAXA’s web-based simulator and the participants’ page on the Kibo-RPC site within three business days of completing your registration.
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