LI Students Compete in NASA Robot Competition

By Niall Fitzgerald

Seven Long Island High School students - including the Leader's own reporter Krishang Gupta - competed in the Zero Robotics competition last month hosted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), together with MIT, hosted the Zero Robotics competition, which included coordination with astronauts and robots on the International Space Station (ISS).

Fifteen teams from around the country were selected to compete in this year's first-ever high school challenge.

The challenge was labeled "Lost in Space" and involved the students programing the Astrobee robots on the International Space Station (ISS) to remove simulated debris from an imaging field.

Upon completion of their task, each team received a positive hand gesture from one of the astronauts who were monitoring the competition - but who were then still trapped inside the International Space Station.

Teams had to learn to use advanced algorithms involving high-level mathematics and programming skills. 

The program is led by Professor Danielle Wood, the Media Lab's Space Enabled research group, and the Innovation Learning Center. 

Seven local high school students, from the Institute of Creative Problem Solving (ICPS), a gifted and talented program on Long Island, competed in the Zero Robotics competition for the first time this year.

The ICPS team was led by captain Ray Tang, and was mentored by several ICPS professors, including Dr. Arthur Kalish and Dr. Anurag Purwar. 

The ICPS team attended the competition at the MIT Media Lab, where a live broadcast of inside the ISS was running, while NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, ran each team’s program on the Astrobee robots, next to a live simulation of the robot following their code to pick up debris.  

The Long Island team from ICPS - with a score of 110.7 - placed third in the competition. Their success is a testament to their hard work and dedication throughout the season. They look forward to the chance to compete once again in the 2025-2026 challenge. 

The broadcast can be found at https://web.mit.edu/webcast/zerorobotics/s25/.