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Macon Bots 2023 Robotics Challenge
The year is 2026. You have been working on the Moon as part of the Artemis II crew on the Moon and have been setting up a lunar base. This base will serve as a waypoint for future missions to Mars. Because the Moon doesn’t have an atmosphere, it is susceptible to meteor strikes (they don’t burn up). This is what creates the craters on the Moon. An especially large meteor has been detected and it is going to strike near the launch pad where the Lunar Landing Module (LLM) is located. There is cargo on the Moon that is at risk of being damaged if you can’t get it loaded on the LLM and launched quickly. NASA has instructed that robots be utilized to do the loading to reduce the risk to life in case the meteor strikes. The problem is that your team is located several kilometers away and you are unable to get your crew to the launch site. Your team also has a very special rock sample that may contain clues on how the moon formed. You must get this rock sample on the LLM.
You will be working on a small team that is part of a larger team in order to complete the necessary tasks.
1. Build and program a robot that will travel across the lunar landscape and navigate around the craters and other obstacles. This robot will carry the rock sample to the launch site and pass it off to the loading robots. This robot must perform all of its tasks autonomously because you will not be able to drive it. This team will need to be focused on programming, utilizing sensors to navigate the lunar landscape, and must have a way to pass along the rock sample to the loading robot. The rock sample is the size of a tennis ball.
2. Build a robot that is capable of lifting cargo to different levels of the LMM.
3. Build a loading robot that is able to move cargo onto the ship. This robot must be able to receive the rock sample and place it into the ship. This team may repackage the rock sample if needed. All other cargo is the size of a ping-pong ball.
Good Luck!