Robot Challenge
Mars Robot Challenge(s)
Space Exploration continues to be an active area of development with many countries pursuing interesting projects. One place of increasing interest is the planet Mars and serious initiatives to send humans to the Red Planet are underway.
Before sending humans to the Mars we need to learn more about the planet. Several rovers have been sent to Mars. NASA engineers need to control the rovers from earth. Moving a rover on Mars safely is challenging since the communication delay (about 20 minutes) means engineers do not get immediate feedback about what the robot is doing. They want to explore as much as possible, and yet they cannot send the rover too far too quickly as they may end up causing the rover to get stuck on terrain or falling of a martian cliff!
Your mission will be to develop a robot controller app (on code.org). Your app will remotely (over the internet) to control robots that are running in a simulated Mars environment in the classroom. You and your team will then compete with other teams to be the first ones to successfully complete a mission. Just like the Nasa Engineers, you MAY have delays and issues with getting immediate feedback so you need to carefully consider how quickly you get your rover to move. The quicker your robot receives commands, the faster it will complete the mission.... or FAIL and get stuck!
Note that there are a few different mission challenges AND a few different mission modes (how your commands are handled by the robot). See below for details.
All the information of how to build your robot controller and what commands you can send to your robot are described here.
Good luck!
Mission Challenges
Robot Challenge #1 - Race!
This challenge is the simplest challenge. It is a good way to test how your robot responds to your robot commands and to make sure everything is working ok. The information below may be helpful for figuring out what commands to use.
Robot Challenge #2 - Evidence of Life
In this challenge, you have just received a report that of the possiblity of life on Mars. Your teams job is to be the first ones to investigate the findings of the report by travelling to the reported location. Be careful, as cliffs and craters abound!
Mission Modes
| Condition Name Command Queue Mode |
Description
In this mission condition, every command received (which generally means every command sent - unless your network is down!), the command will be put into a command queue. Commands run synchronously which means a second command will run once the FIRST command is completed. For example, if you send a command to move forward for 2 seconds, a second command received while the robot is moving forward will be put in the queue and THEN run once the first command is complete. Be careful, as ANY command sent my any team member WILL eventually get run! Make sure to coordinate with your team members before sending more commands! |
| Condition Name Command Rejection Mode | Description In this mission condition, any command received WHILE a current command is being run will be rejected and discarded! Only when NO commands are currently running will a new command be able to run. |
| Condition Name Team Mode |
Description
In this mission condition, there IS a command queue. HOWEVER, if you send a command (or command string), then any subsequent commands from YOU will be rejected until someone ELSE on your team sends a command. It is important to coordinate the sending of robot commands so you don't end up having your commands rejected! |
Related Pages on teacherhogg.info
Useful Links
MARS Exploration Rovers
(nasa.gov)
6 Technologies NASA is Advancing to Send Humans to Mars
(nasa.gov)
Mars & Beyond. The road to making humanity multiplanetary.
(spacex.com)
Why we explore Mars - and what decades of missions have revealed.
(nationalgeographic.com)
Moving around Mars
(nasa.gov)
The 5 Possibilities for Life On Mars
(forbes.com)
