After a robotic failure last year, UF’s NASA Robotics Mining Competition team is once again facing a simulated NASA interplanetary mission.
“We’ve learned more from failing than we ever could have succeeding,” said Scott Hinton, 21-year-old aerospace engineering senior and mechanical project head for UF’s robotics team. “This year, we’ve got something to prove.”
The goal of NASA’s Robotic Mining Competition is to create a robot that can collect at least 10 kilograms of very fine, potentially hazardous sand that simulates what would be found on another planet in 10 minutes, said Eric Schwartz, faculty advisor for the robotics team at UF.
“This is kind of what I want to do with my life, and I want to do it well,” said Kevin French, 20-year-old electrical engineering junior and electrical project head for UF’s robotics team.
The winning team receives the Joe Kosmo Award for Excellence and a $5,000 team scholarship. Startup funding granted by institutions like the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium and Student Government has amounted to about $7,000 so far, Hinton said.
Improved team communication is key to overcoming the major obstacles of the competition, French said.
The electrical team has begun to order materials to make the robot autonomous, French said.
“We calculated that if we get it fully autonomous, we can win,” he said.
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 9/25/2013 under the headline "Robotics team to try again in NASA mission"
