The MoonBots 2.0: A Google Lunar X Prize LEGO MINDSTORMS Challenge has been announced by the LEGO Group and the X PRIZE Foundation.
This contest is being conducted for the second time, mainly for challenging the youth to create, program and build robots which would execute simulated lunar missions resembling closely the teams which would take part in the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE private race to the Moon for commercially exploring space. They have taken on WIRED magazine as a partner along with FIRST Robotics for designing a competition which would enable students and their families to gain knowledge about robotics, the Moon and also team building.
According to Chanda Gonzales, the Education Manager in Google Lunar X PRIZE, during the course of this challenge, participants would be able to create videos, learn about the most recent technological advances and also acquire computer programming skills in connection with space exploration. This would help kids to be inspired and motivated about Moon exploration. The teams would submit scientific and entertaining video clips about space exploration and they would also need to write out a proposal that would explain why their robot should be selected for the funding to go to the moon.
A select group would be picked up from these submissions and taken in as finalists. They would be given free LEGO components for building a large Moonscape, which would act as the playing field for the competition. They would then create their robot with the help of CAD software, program the robot and finally exhibit their robot to the judges. The teams would then be required to finish a STEM outreach project to motivate and mentor children to become interested in the MoonBots 2.0 Challenge, this being a totally new requirement added this year.
The LEGO MINDSTORMS robotic toolkits have been giving children for more than 10 years, the virtual and physical experiences with both its easy to use programming software, along with its high tech hardware. This helps in empowering users to design, construct and program robotic inventions for learning and play purposes. Youthful robot creators could both create and program their first LEGO robot within 30 minutes.
According to Steven Canvin, their aim was to both inspire and motivate the future robot developers and encourage them to follow careers in engineering, science and technology and mathematics. He also mentioned that the MoonBots 2.0 Challenge was ideal for inspiring young children aged 9-17 to get involved in the problems which come with lunar exploration by trying to emulate landing on the Moon by robots built from LEGO MINDSTORMS.
Source: http://www.googlelunarxprize.org