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On April 17, 2018 Dr. Adams (Mechanical Engineering Professor) and 3 mechanical engineering students traveled to Cape Canaveral, FL as a reconnaissance mission for the 2019 NASA Swarmathon. This competition is a NASA challenge to develop cooperative robotics to revolutionize space exploration. The participants of this competition develop and test algorithms that could one day be used in NASA’s Mission to Mars. The competition is spread out over the course of three days, each day consisting of various preliminary rounds. On the third day of competition, the top 4 teams advance to the semi-final rounds and later the top two teams advance to the final rounds of competition. The NASA Swarmathon is an agreement between the NASA Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP) and the University of New Mexico in partnership with the NASA Kennedy Space Center Swamp Works. This year, 24 Minority Serving Institutions participated in the Swarmathon. The objective of the competition is for a swarm of six preprogrammed robots (iAnts) to survey an arena of various terrain features and locate cubes using an assorted array of sensors. Once the cubes are located, the iAnts must retrieve the cubes and return back to home base to deliver them to the initial starting point. The winner of this year’s Physical Competition was from Durham Technical University.
Through this experience, Alabama A&M has become familiar with the course and competition format. Next year, Alabama A&M will compete in the 2019 NASA Swarmathon with a team comprised of students majoring in electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering. In preparation for the competition, the team members will learn software like Linux and Python as well as the integration of multiple sensors and hardware to allow the robots to successfully complete the mission.

The AAMU Team is sponsored by the Alabama Space Grant Consortium, based at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.