York College Astrobotics

The York College Astrobotics Program has prospered this year with the addition of five student fellowships to support the research and development of autonomous lunabotic systems for two NASA Sponsored Competitions. The 2018 NASA Robotic Mining Competition and the NASA Swarmathon Project are the driving forces behind the student research into locomotion systems and coordinated programming applications.

Students participating in the Robotic Mining Competition (RMC) researched efficient locomotion methods, digging processes, and efficient control algorithms for the “YorkBot Mklll”, their robotic entry into the 2018 RMC Development and scale model construction took place in the Spring of 2017. This model is currently being iterated and scaled to 100% for the upcoming competition. Students will work at a furious pace to complete their robotic entry, systems engineering report, community outreach requirement, and refine all designs.

Students participating in the NASA Swarmathon Competition have been developing advanced software in conjunction with the University of New Mexico and NASA Swampworks. This coordinated “swarm” algorithm is the result of several years of effort by the York College team. By analyzing the biological nature of bees, fish, and other natural species that work together to detect and harvest natural resources, their software will be implemented into several “swarm robots” for the April competition at the KSC. This process is a complex mesh of programming and electro-mechanical design and is pushing the team to its limits for the upcoming deadline.