A summary of the Final Round results has been added to the ACTIVITY tab!
Kibo Robot Programming Challenge
Save ISS with Robots!!!
Emergency alert is activated!!
A meteor crashed to the International Space Station and the air is leaking.
Create your own program to operate the robot and stop the air leakage.
JAXA needs your help.
Get your program uplinked immediately!!
This story is a fiction.What's New
October 30, 2020
October 16, 2020
We are honor to announce the winner of the Final Round.
Enjoy watching the video of the Final Round!
September 29, 2020
JAXA and NASA conducted the ISS rehearsal of the Kibo-RPC Final Round on September 24th.
The Final Round will be held on October 8th, with a limited access by the finalists only.
The result will be officially released in a video format to the public later. Please look forward to it!
August 21, 2020
We will postpone the final round scheduled for September to around
October.
Detailed schedule will be announced as soon as it is decided.
Download page has been updated with the following:
- Kibo-RPC Final Round Rulebook was updated.
- Programming Manual was updated.
- Template APK and Sample APK was updated. Flashlight API was added to Game API.
August 5, 2020
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Finalist from Australia was decided. Added their information to the ACTIVITY tab.
July 15, 2020
The simulation environment has been updated. The following features were added:
- Released Preliminary Round results for each team
- Participants can see their own scores of 10 Runs and two videos of worst and highest score. Please login to check your score.
- The simulator of Final Round was released (only for the finalist team)
- Submission deadline of a draft program for reviewing by JAXA and NASA is on July 26. All finalists must submit your APK by the deadline.
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Kibo-RPC Final Round Rulebook was updated
- Added Programming Common Issues as an appendix to Programming Manual
- Common issues which happened in running simulations were listed.
June 26, 2020
With exceptions, all countries/regions have completed the Preliminary Round.
The simulation environment has been updated. The following features were added:
- Released the simulator status for Final Refurbish
- If you are a finalist, please create a Final Round program by using this simulator. The simulator status for Preliminary Trial can still be used.
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Bangladesh added to Kibo-RPC observer participating countries
- Added preliminary round result for each country to the ACTIVITY tab
- Programming manual, Template APK and Sample APK are updated.
- Fix for API Javadoc only. You can continue to use the old version because API itself is not changed. Please check the change log in the programming manual for details.
June 8, 2020
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Preliminary round information for UAE was revised.
June 1, 2020
All countries/regions are in the Preliminary Round period.
We released the simulator status for Preliminary Round. Participants
must upload an APK by the deadline.Please be careful not to expire.
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Mission Achievement Rate in ACTIVITY tab was revised
- Preliminary round information for Indonesia was revised.
- Preliminary round information for Singapore was revised.
- Preliminary round information for Taiwan was revised.
May 25, 2020
All countries/regions closed their applications for participants on May
24, 2020.
Be prepared for preliminary round!
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Mission Achievement Rate in ACTIVITY tab was revised
- Preliminary round information for Thailand was revised.
- The APK deadline for Thailand's Preliminary Selection is May 26th. Thailand participants should remember to submit the APK!
May 18, 2020
Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan closed their applications for participants on May 7, 2020.
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Mission Achievement Rate in ACTIVITY tab was revised
- Preliminary round information for Taiwan was revised
- Preliminary round information for Thailand was revised
- Guidebook was revised
May 1, 2020
Thailand closed the application for participants on April 19, 2020.
The deadline for participants from other countries/regions is this
month.
Please be careful not to expire.
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Mission Achievement Rate in ACTIVITY tab was revised
- Australian participant status to ACTIVITY tab was added
- Singapore participant status to ACTIVITY tab was added
- Preliminary round information for Taiwan was revised
- Preliminary round information for Thailand was revised
April 20, 2020
The simulation environment has been updated. The following feature was added:
- Preliminary Selection of simulation status was released.
- * Thailand will conduct Preliminary Selection before the Preliminary Round. We released the status for that. Thailand participants must upload a qualifying APK by the deadline.
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Kibo-RPC Preliminary Round Rulebook was revised
- Preliminary round information for Taiwan was added to ACTIVITY tab
April 17, 2020
The application deadline has been extended.
Considering the difficulty of organizing team members under the COVID-19 situation, we have decided to extend the application deadline again.
Other schedules are not changed and preliminary round will be held as planned in each domestic countries.
Kibo-RPC is the programming competition using web, therefore you can remotely develop programs and participate in the event via internet.
Join us and beat COVID-19!
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Preliminary round information for Indonesia was revised
- Preliminary round information for Thailand was revised
April 13, 2020
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Kibo-RPC Preliminary Round Rulebook was revised
- Preliminary round information for Japan was revised
- Preliminary round information for Thailand was revised
March 30, 2020
The simulation environment has been updated. The following features were added:
- Function of scoring
Web page has been updated with the following:
- Added Preliminary Round Rulebook
- Programming Manual was revised
March 24, 2020
System maintenance was completed without any problem.
Website has been updated with the following:
- Taiwan added to Kibo-RPC participating countries/regions
March 12, 2020
System Maintenance Announcement
We will conduct a server maintenance on March 23, 2020 18:30 JST to March 24, 2020 18:30 JST. JAXA's simulator will be unavailable for 24 hours. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this interruption.
News
- We reviewed the whole schedule and decided to extend the application deadline for participants to April 19th (24:00 JST).
- JAXA briefed with NASA astronauts about the 1st Kibo-RPC in January 2020.
KUOA news:
Website has been updated with the following:
- Added Get Started section to Home page
- Added Google Group to share questions and interact with participants
- Added Preliminary Round information for each country/region to Activity page
February 26, 2020
The simulation environment has been updated to version 2.1, and the following feature was added:
- Astrobee navigation error as a random factor
Website has been updated with the following:
- Australia was added to Kibo-RPC participating countries/regions
- Guidebook was revised
February 18, 2020
The Guidance Session of Kibo Robot Programming Challenge will be held on
the date
below. In this session, we are going to explain the overview of
competition and simulator and the event in a venue. Since it will be held
with Skype, anyone can join from anywhere.
In Japanese
It was carried out on the following schedule.
Date: 19:00~, Thursday, February 25th 2020 (JST)
In English
It was carried out on the following schedule.
Date: 15:30~, Friday, February 28th 2020 (JST)
Thank you for your participation.
January 29, 2020
The simulation environment has been updated. The following feature was added:
- Simulation playback function
Website has been updated with the following:
- UAE added to Kibo-RPC participating countries/regions
- Activity page
- Guidebook
- Programming Manual
- Frequently Asked Questions about the Program / PC Q4
December 25, 2019
The simulation environment has been updated. The following features were added:
- Disturbance element
- Keep In Zone / Keep Out Zone
- Visualize planned path and actual path
Revised guidebooks and programming manuals are now available on the download page.
Added FAQ page.
November 25-29, 2019
The secretariat participated in Kibo-ABC WG/APRSAF-26 and discussed the Kibo-RPC event with each country/region.
November 20, 2019
Simulation environment and Programming Manual are released.
Revised Guidebook and Programming Manual are now available on Download page.
November 12-15, 2019
JAXA conducted a simulation verification test of Kibo-PRC, in collaboration with NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC).
October 11, 2019
Call for participation has started.
| Date | Note |
|---|---|
| October 30, 2020 | A summary of the Final Round results has been added to the ACTIVITY tab! |
| October 16, 2020 | We are honor to announce the winner of the Final Round. Enjoy watching the video of the Final Round! |
| September 29, 2020 | JAXA and NASA conducted the ISS rehearsal of the Kibo-RPC Final Round on September 24th. The Final Round will be held on October 8th, with a limited access by the finalists only. The result will be officially released in a video format to the public later. Please look forward to it! |
Your Mission
Your mission is to create a program to operate Astrobee and stop the leakage by pointing the laser.
Since limited number of programs can be sent to Astrobee in ISS/Kibo, JAXA seeks several best candidate programs from the Asia Pacific region and the United States.
Let's join the competition. Int-Ball will support Astrobee as a camera drone.
What is Astrobee?
©NASA (https://images.nasa.gov/) Astrobee, NASA's new free-flying robotic system, will help astronauts reduce time they spend on routine duties, leaving them to focus more on the things that only humans can do.
(Link to NASA website )What is Int-Ball?
©JAXA/NASA Int-Ball is a free flying camera robot aiming to reduce crew time and ultimately to zero for routine video-shooting tasks by crew in ISS/Kibo.
(Link to JAXA website )Entry Qualification
1
Students up to graduate school in Kibo-ABC member country/region expressing the participation in the Kibo-RPC can apply for the competition.
2
A team is comprised of more than 3 members.
*1 Kibo-ABC countries/regions:
Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Rep. of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam.
Kibo-ABC URL: http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kuoa/kibo_abc/
*2 Kibo-RPC countries/regions (As of June 2020):
Australia (ASA, OGL), Indonesia (LAPAN), Japan (JAXA), Singapore (SSTL), Taiwan (NSOP), Thailand (NSTDA), United Arab Emirates (UAESA).
How to Enter the Kibo-RPC
All countries/regions closed their applications for participants.
1
Please read carefully the Kibo-RPC Guidebook Section 1.
2
Fill in the Application Form and submit to Kibo-RPC point of contact (POC) of your country/region listed below.
Participating countries/regions of Kibo-RPC (As of June 2020):
Australia Australian Space Agency (ASA):
https://www.industry.gov.au/about-us/our-structure/about-the-australian-space-agencyMr. Bob Carpenter and Ms. Jackie Carpenter:
Application deadline:
May 24th 2020 (24:00 AEST)
Indonesia Ms. Fitri Nuraeni:
Ms. Rasdewita Kesumanirgrum:
Application deadline:
May 7th 2020 (24:00 WIB)
Japan Kibo-RPC secretariat:
Application deadline:
May 24th 2020 (24:00 JST)
Singapore Ms. Gillian Chin:
Application deadline:
May 7th 2020 (24:00 SST)
Taiwan Mr. Shan-Kuo Yang and Dr. Joe Fong:
Application deadline:
May 7th 2020 (24:00 TWT)
Thailand Mr. Paritat Theanthong:
Application deadline:
April 19th 2020 (24:00 ICT)
United Arab Emirates Ms. Hamda Faisal Al Shehhi:
Application deadline:
May 21st 2020 (24:00 GST)
Bangladesh Mr. Mizanul Hoq Chowdhury:
Participated as an observer in 1st Kibo-RPC
3
Kibo-RPC POC will inform you ID of your team via email.
High Level Schedule
Event Schedule
October 11th 2019:
Call for Participation
(See "How to Enter the Kibo-RPC."):
Application Deadline
June 2020:
Preliminary Round
Qualification Round
October 2020:
Final Round in ISS/Kibo
November 20th 2019:
Initial Release
December 2019:
2nd Update
Game Story
A meteor shower entered the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) at 400 km above the ground. One of the meteors hit ISS, and a part of the ISS module was damaged causing air leakage.
The damaged section turned out to be the Japanese experimental module “Kibo”. We need to identify the damaged place and repair it using Astrobee because the air pressure is getting lower in “Kibo” and scattered items prevent astronauts to enter “Kibo”. In order to identify the damaged place precisely, we must search in “Kibo” module and find the leak point by collecting information using Astrobee with the support of Int-Ball being as a camera robot. Then we need to weld it with a laser. Without proper welding, the damage may expand. The time is limited!!
When air leaks from a hole made by a meteor, some scratches on the walls and floors were made by the scattered items in “Kibo”. By analyzing each scratch, we judge whether it is the cause of the air leak point or not. Until the air leak point is identified, we must continue our search. Therefore, image processing is indispensable for analyzing scratches with the Astrobee’s camera. At this moment, the air leak point seems to be small enough to be welded with the Astrobee's laser based on the drop rate of the air pressure in ISS. However, if the Astrobee’s laser targets a wrong spot, it may expand the hole.
Accuracy of the location and the laser pointing is the key for stopping the air leakage successfully.
Currently, astronauts are in a process of evacuation and flight controllers on the ground are busy supporting them. We want to leave Astrobee's control to each country/regions's volunteers to save “Kibo”!
* This story is a fiction.
Get Started
2
Machine setup
Set up your machine according to the Programming Manual Section 2.
Check the specifications of your PC, install Android Studio, and download additional components of the Android Studio.
Environment: Android Studio
Language: Java
3
Install template APK
Download template in the download page and follow the instruction at Programming Manual Section 3.
Note: Simulator will not work properly unless you use the specified template APK.
4
Create the program
Use the Guidebook and Programming Manual for your reference.
Game configurations can be found on the Guidebook while API details, sample code, and other information can be found on Programming Manual.
5
Upload APK to server
After creating your program, build and upload your program to JAXA’s simulation server.
6
Run the simulation
It takes about 30 minutes for the simulation to finish.
7
View result
Brainstorm with your team and use the result to improve your program.
8
Participate in Preliminary Round
Participants will participate in Preliminary Round held in each country/region.
Preliminary Round period is from May 28 to June 14 (JST).
Questions about the Kibo-RPC are accepted any time.
Note
-
We cannot answer the following questions:
- About other participants
- About program code contents
- Before asking a question, please check the FAQ, Guidebook, and Programming Manual.
Past questions are posted on Google group.
When asking technical questions, please fill in the required information below.
| Questioner | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your Name |
| 2 | Team Name |
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Step(s) you did on Programming Manual |
| 2 | Problems, things you want to know, additional information |
| 3 | PC specs |
| 4 | Date and time (Please include timezone) |
| 5 | Screenshot, additional data (if any) |