The Zero Robotics competition will be launched by European Space Agency (ESA) to encourage students to develop programs for operating small, ball-like satellites are Spheres called synchronized position hold, engage, reorient, and experimental satellites.
NASA utilizes Spheres within its space station for testing sets of coded instructions and to execute docking and automated meeting points.
The Space Systems Laboratory of the well-known US Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) first launched the Zero Robotics competition in 2009. The competition commenced in December 2009. The competition deals with programming. Students are expected to feed sets of instructions into existing satellites and test the fed instructions in the real time scenario on the Station.
Around 150 students from various schools in Boston formed 10 teams in preparation for the competition in 2010. Following the semi-finals in August, the robots belonging to winning teams fought with each other within the Space Station.
ESA has plans to invite students belonging to schools located outside the USA for this year’s competition. ESA hopes to attract a large number of students from all over Europe in the subsequent competitions, depending on the success of this year’s competition.
Source: http://www.esa.int/