Kibo Robot Programming Challenge

The Final Round winners are selected! Congratulations!

Save ISS with Robots!!!

Emergency alert is activated!!

A meteor crashed to the International Space Station and the air is leaking.

Create your own program to operate the robot and stop the air leakage.

JAXA needs your help.

This story is a fiction.

What's New

October 30, 2020

A summary of the Final Round results has been added to the ACTIVITY tab!

October 16, 2020
September 29, 2020

JAXA and NASA conducted the ISS rehearsal of the Kibo-RPC Final Round on September 24th.

The Final Round will be held on October 8th, with a limited access by the finalists only.

The result will be officially released in a video format to the public later. Please look forward to it!

August 21, 2020
August 5, 2020
July 15, 2020
June 26, 2020
June 8, 2020
June 1, 2020
May 25, 2020
May 18, 2020
May 1, 2020
April 20, 2020
April 17, 2020
April 13, 2020
March 30, 2020
March 24, 2020
March 12, 2020
February 26, 2020
February 18, 2020
January 29, 2020
December 25, 2019
November 25-29, 2019
November 20, 2019
November 12-15, 2019
October 11, 2019
Date Note
October 30, 2020

A summary of the Final Round results has been added to the ACTIVITY tab!

October 16, 2020
September 29, 2020

JAXA and NASA conducted the ISS rehearsal of the Kibo-RPC Final Round on September 24th.

The Final Round will be held on October 8th, with a limited access by the finalists only.

The result will be officially released in a video format to the public later. Please look forward to it!

Your Mission

Your mission is to create a program to operate Astrobee and stop the leakage by pointing the laser.

Since limited number of programs can be sent to Astrobee in ISS/Kibo, JAXA seeks several best candidate programs from the Asia Pacific region and the United States.

Let's join the competition. Int-Ball will support Astrobee as a camera drone.

What is Astrobee?

Astrobee ©NASA (https://images.nasa.gov/)

Astrobee, NASA's new free-flying robotic system, will help astronauts reduce time they spend on routine duties, leaving them to focus more on the things that only humans can do.

(Link to NASA website )

What is Int-Ball?

Int-Ball ©JAXA/NASA

Int-Ball is a free flying camera robot aiming to reduce crew time and ultimately to zero for routine video-shooting tasks by crew in ISS/Kibo.

(Link to JAXA website )

Entry Qualification

1 1

Students up to graduate school in Kibo-ABC member country/region expressing the participation in the Kibo-RPC can apply for the competition.

2 2

A team is comprised of more than 3 members.

*1 Kibo-ABC countries/regions:

Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Rep. of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam.

Kibo-ABC URL: http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kuoa/kibo_abc/

*2 Kibo-RPC countries/regions (As of June 2020):

Australia (ASA, OGL), Indonesia (LAPAN), Japan (JAXA), Singapore (SSTL), Taiwan (NSOP), Thailand (NSTDA), United Arab Emirates (UAESA).

How to Enter the Kibo-RPC

All countries/regions closed their applications for participants.

1 1

Please read carefully the Kibo-RPC Guidebook Section 1.

2 2

Fill in the Application Form and submit to Kibo-RPC point of contact (POC) of your country/region listed below.

Participating countries/regions of Kibo-RPC (As of June 2020):

Australia Australia
Indonesia Indonesia
  • National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN):

    https://www.lapan.go.id/

  • Ms. Fitri Nuraeni:

    Ms. Fitri Nuraeni:

  • Ms. Rasdewita Kesumanirgrum:

    Ms. Rasdewita Kesumanirgrum:

  • Application deadline:

    May 7th 2020 (24:00 WIB)

Japan Japan
  • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA):

    http://www.jaxa.jp/

  • Kibo-RPC secretariat:

    Kibo-RPC secretariat:

  • Application deadline:

    May 24th 2020 (24:00 JST)

Singapore Singapore
  • Singapore Space and Technology Limited (SSTL):

    https://www.space.org.sg/

  • Ms. Gillian Chin:

    Ms. Gillian Chin:

  • Application deadline:

    May 7th 2020 (24:00 SST)

Taiwan Taiwan
Thailand Thailand
United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates
  • United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA):

    https://space.gov.ae/

  • Ms. Hamda Faisal Al Shehhi:

    Ms. Hamda Faisal Al Shehhi:

  • Application deadline:

    May 21st 2020 (24:00 GST)

Bangladesh Bangladesh
3 3

Kibo-RPC POC will inform you ID of your team via email.

High Level Schedule

Event Schedule
    October 11th 2019:

    Call for Participation

    (See "How to Enter the Kibo-RPC."):

    Application Deadline

    June 2020:

    Preliminary Round

    Qualification Round

    October 2020:

    Final Round in ISS/Kibo

Release of Simulation Environment
    November 20th 2019:

    Initial Release

    December 2019:

    2nd Update

Game Story

A meteor shower entered the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) at 400 km above the ground. One of the meteors hit ISS, and a part of the ISS module was damaged causing air leakage.

The damaged section turned out to be the Japanese experimental module “Kibo”. We need to identify the damaged place and repair it using Astrobee because the air pressure is getting lower in “Kibo” and scattered items prevent astronauts to enter “Kibo”. In order to identify the damaged place precisely, we must search in “Kibo” module and find the leak point by collecting information using Astrobee with the support of Int-Ball being as a camera robot. Then we need to weld it with a laser. Without proper welding, the damage may expand. The time is limited!!

When air leaks from a hole made by a meteor, some scratches on the walls and floors were made by the scattered items in “Kibo”. By analyzing each scratch, we judge whether it is the cause of the air leak point or not. Until the air leak point is identified, we must continue our search. Therefore, image processing is indispensable for analyzing scratches with the Astrobee’s camera. At this moment, the air leak point seems to be small enough to be welded with the Astrobee's laser based on the drop rate of the air pressure in ISS. However, if the Astrobee’s laser targets a wrong spot, it may expand the hole.

Accuracy of the location and the laser pointing is the key for stopping the air leakage successfully.

Currently, astronauts are in a process of evacuation and flight controllers on the ground are busy supporting them. We want to leave Astrobee's control to each country/regions's volunteers to save “Kibo”!

* This story is a fiction.

Get Started

Follow these steps to create and simulate your own programs! Don’t forget to read Kibo-RPC Guidebook and Programming Manual for details.

1

Submit application form

See How to Enter Kibo-RPC

2

Machine setup

Set up your machine according to the Programming Manual Section 2.

Check the specifications of your PC, install Android Studio, and download additional components of the Android Studio.

Environment: Android Studio

Language: Java

3

Install template APK

Download template in the download page and follow the instruction at Programming Manual Section 3.

Note: Simulator will not work properly unless you use the specified template APK.

4

Create the program

Use the Guidebook and Programming Manual for your reference.

Game configurations can be found on the Guidebook while API details, sample code, and other information can be found on Programming Manual.

5

Upload APK to server

After creating your program, build and upload your program to JAXA’s simulation server.

6

Run the simulation

It takes about 30 minutes for the simulation to finish.

7

View result

Brainstorm with your team and use the result to improve your program.

8

Participate in Preliminary Round

Participants will participate in Preliminary Round held in each country/region.

Preliminary Round period is from May 28 to June 14 (JST).

Questions about the Kibo-RPC are accepted any time.

Note

  1. We cannot answer the following questions:
    • About other participants
    • About program code contents
  2. Before asking a question, please check the FAQ, Guidebook, and Programming Manual.

Past questions are posted on Google group.

When asking technical questions, please fill in the required information below.

Questioner
1 Your Name
2 Team Name
Contents
1 Step(s) you did on Programming Manual
2 Problems, things you want to know, additional information
3 PC specs
4 Date and time (Please include timezone)
5 Screenshot, additional data (if any)