2013: COSMOSpheres
The 2013-2014 Zero Robotics game is called COSMOSpheres (Critical Operation to Save Mankind from Obliteration (COSMO))
Game Background
A comet headed toward Earth threatens humanity’s very existence!
Until recently, an effective and plausible choice of defense against this potential disaster has remained elusive. Nuclear weapons have been proposed, but this idea has not been well received by serious scientists.
Instead, recent advances in technology have triggered increasing enthusiasm about the use of robotic satellites for this purpose. Scientists have suggested that robotic satellites can be launched and strategically placed in orbit and then used to alter an incoming comet’s path. Two different approaches are proposed for changing the path of the comet: gravitational attraction and laser pellet repulsion. But which of these two methods or combination of methods would be more successful?
Enter the Critical Operation to Save Mankind from Obliteration (COSMO) program. NASA and DARPA have directed MIT to create two companies, BluSecurity and RedSecurity. These companies will compete in a challenging demonstration mission with a lucrative comet defense contract at stake. Both companies will use specially outfitted CosmoSPHERES launched into orbit to demonstrate their selected strategy.
Once launched, companies choosing to pursue the gravitational attraction method may collect space debris to increase their mass. This can be done cooperatively with the use of a net to gather mass that is shared between the companies. Or this can be accomplished by lassoing debris independently.
If companies choose to pursue the laser repulsion method, they must rendezvous with laser supply packs that have been pre-positioned as secondary payloads on previous commercial launches.
Once a comet is sighted, the satellite must use gravitational attraction, laser pellet repulsion or a combination of methods to successfully redirect the comet away from its home base.
As a SPHERES expert, your skills will be in high demand. GOOD LUCK!
Game Manual:
The game manual can be found here.
Final Results:
Plasma Robotics had another great year for their zero team. Plasma started off high in the ranks, placing 7th in the 3D Competition. Their two aliance partners this year were the Cheesy Poofs and Cougar Coders, and together the teams worked very hard to create a great code. Unfortuneately, the code only placed 25th in the aliance competiton.
© 2014