Call for Team Participation in the 6th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC)

Kibo Utilization Office for Asia (KUOA)
Experiment at Kibo

We are pleased to announce that JAXA will hold the 6^th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) in 2025 and has started accepting applications for participating teams.

Kibo-RPC is a collaborative activity between JAXA and NASA under the Japan-US Open Platform Partnership Program (JP-US OP3) framework. This activity is to expand the use of Kibo in the Asia-Pacific region and to contribute to the SDGs. It provides educational opportunities for students to learn about robotics and computer programing in space.

Outline of Kibo-RPC

Kibo-RPC is a robot programming competition. It is held on “Kibo”, the Japanese Experiment Module of the International Space Station (ISS) using its internal robot^*1. The competition will have multiple challenges and will use Kibo as the game space. Participants must build codes^*2 to run the robot in the ISS and compete for time and the ability to respond to challenges while completing assigned tasks.

At last year’s fifth competition, a record number of 2,788 participants in 661 teams from 13 countries/regions applied.

Results of the 1st Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 2nd Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 3rd Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 4th Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 5th Kibo-RPC Final Round

*1 An autonomous flying robot intended to support astronauts (taking photos, etc.)
*2 Participants shall build codes to move the free-flying robot autonomously using the virtual simulator provided by JAXA and NASA.
*3 An autonomous flying robot developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to replace and support astronauts in their work.（https://www.nasa.gov/astrobee）

Outline of the 6^th Kibo-RPC

Call for applications

Students up to Graduate level from Kibo-RPC participating countries/regions including Japan.

Application Period

February 17, 2025 – May 12, 2025 23:59 (JST)

Game Story (this work is fiction)

Space pirate IB I (Int-Ball the First) had hidden the space treasures he collected over his short life somewhere on the International Space Station, Kibo experiment module. The astronaut knows a clue to finding the real treasure hidden by IB1, but the astronaut doesn't know the exact location. However, research to date has identified several possible locations where the treasure may be hidden, and it is known that there are marks nearby.
We order your team to operate Astrobee and search for the treasure hidden by Space Pirate IB1.
Here is what to do. Operate Astrobee and go around the candidate locations using the clues to find the treasure. At this time, you need to be careful that fake treasures may be hidden. After visiting all the candidate locations, use the astronaut's clues to find the real treasure and go back to where the real treasure is hidden. The path to finding the treasure is up to you. Good luck!!

Schedule

April 2025: JAXA simulation environment open (You may start programming after the enrollment)
Late June – Early July 2025：Preliminary Round for each country/region (Using the JAXA simulation environment)
Fall 2025: Final Round Event（Using the actual Astrobee in the ISS “Kibo” environment）

Kibo-RPC Guidance Session (English)

Date: March 4, 2025(Tuesday) 18:00-19:00 (JST)
Held with the Teams conference system
* Please refer to the special website for details on how to join in the Guidance Session.

Participation requirements and details

Please refer to the 6^th Kibo-RPC Special Website (https://jaxa.krpc.jp) to find your local organizers for details. Each participating country/region may have additional eligibility and requirements.

We are sincerely looking forward to your participation.
Please apply!