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SALT LAKE CITY — It has been to space, it assists astronauts, it even shakes hands, and now NASA is opening a contest up to the public to improve their humanoid robot's vision.
Robonaut 2 was designed by NASA and General Motors to help astronauts perform dangerous and mundane tasks in space, as well as help GM build safer cars and plants. The robot was designed to be dexterous and "do work beyond the scope of prior humanoid machines" alongside people, NASA said about the machine.
In 2011, the 330-pound R2 served at the International Space Station, assisting astronauts, and gave its space station commander a handshake in orbit.
Now, NASA is asking for coders to write an algorithm that will improve R2's vision, enabling it to recognize "the state and location" of a dashboard's buttons and switches.
As of Thursday, 734 people had registered for the challenge, and 26 people had submitted their code.
In the second round, each competitor will use the algorithm from the first round and write additional code to control R2's hands.
"The algorithm will need to 'see' an object, recognize it, and correctly operate and interact with it in the most efficient and safe manner possible," TopCoder said.
The competition, powered by TopCoder, opened April 1, and will close April 22. The first place winner will receive $4,000, with a total prize purse of $10,000.
