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\nRobots compete in 'mission to Mars'\n

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\nLEAD IN:It's not been long since European countries were competing on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. Well now they're competing on Mars ... sort of.At Innorobo, one of Europe's leading robotics events, teams from across the continent...\nLEAD IN:It's not been long since European countries were competing on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. Well now they're competing on Mars ... sort of.At Innorobo, one of Europe's leading robotics events, teams from across the continent are putting their wits to the test, programming Mars Rover-style droids in a race against time.STORY-LINE:This Martian landscape is welcoming some unexpected visitors: small, Mars Rover-style robots, autonomously navigating between the Red Plant's 'craters' and 'boulders'.It's all part of a robotics programming competition being held at this year's Innorobo robot event in Paris. Organised by US-based software company MathWorks, the day-long event is called \"Mission On Mars\".\"Mission (On) Mars is this yearly competition we've done now, we're on the third year, and the concept is to invite people to use our software freely to evaluate it on this specific competition scenario which is the discovery of green sites on a three-by-three metre Martian surface by a little autonomous rover that you program with our software,\" explains application engineer, Paul Cox.To do that, competitors use these little rover-style robots. Each one is equipped with a sensor mounted on the front which provides information on distances between the robot and nearby obstacles.To complete the challenge, the rovers must autonomously navigate the 'Martian' landscape, locating a collection of green dots while avoiding obstacles. The fastest time wins.The aim is not to build a robot, but to optimise its algorithms so they can carry out the mission as quickly and effectively as possible.\"You have a three-by-three metre area with a number of sites - green targets, basically - that are placed in unknown locations within this area,\" explains Cox. \"In this arena you also have obstacles, obstacles are basically cardboard boxes that if the robot runs into they're immediately disqualified from that round, they have to try again basically.\"Organisers say around 550 teams initially entered the competition. They were first required to submit a digital Mars Rover simulation model to judges. The best 12 were invited to compete here at Innorobo.There are teams representing the UK, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Tunisia.That includes \"404 Group Not Found\" from UCLM in Albacete, Spain. The three-person group is made up of first-year students from the university's Computing Engineering course.\"It's complicated because we are young, we have never faced a challenge like this,\" says team member, Guille Ermo.\"Our teacher has trusted us so it was really difficult for us, but we are ready to face it.\"Attending from Toulouse, is \"Jack-o-Geiser\", four students from INSA engineering school's Electronics and Control Engineering course.\"It was really challenging because we didn't test our codes on the real robot,\" says team member, Caroline Martocq.\"So now we are seeing deforms that we didn't see on the simulation. So it's quite different.\"During the competition's first phase, teams are allowed to test their simulations in real-life conditions. This allows them to adapt their models to the way the robot behaves in real life.Sounds complicated, but 25-year-old Jaime Luis Martin Aleman says it's not so hard, once you've adopted a \"programming mind\".\"It's different - a programming mind and a human mind - you must see the problem and you need to know how to translate it into programme language,\" he says. \"Once you know how to translate it into programme language, it's not so hard.\"Once the morning's test phase is over, competitors must put their faith in their programming and allow the rovers to take on various scenarios completely autonomously and without any human interaction.Powerless team members watch on nervously as their rovers battle against the clock.\"The last few sessions where we have three or four different teams, three or four different robots, where they're competing for that last spot, some of the algorithms are all very similar, starting to get very efficient,\" says Cox.\"Just like watching a high-end soccer match, it gets pretty intense at the very end.\"In the final round, \"Jack-o-Geiser\" snatches victory from UK-based \"QSTAR\", ensuring the title remains on French soil.Students may have won this time, but MathWorks says the competition is open to everyone.\"One of the reasons that we've opened the competition up to people of all ages - from 15 up to 70-years-old, whether it's students, retirees or anybody can participate - is because we feel like anybody can improve their capability to model, simulate and develop algorithms,\" says Cox.Innorobo runs 24-26 May in Paris, France.LEAD IN:It's not been long since European countries were competing on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. Well now they're competing on Mars ... sort of.At Innorobo, one of Europe's leading robotics events, teams from across the continent are putting their wits to the test, programming Mars Rover-style droids in a race against time.STORY-LINE:This Martian landscape is welcoming some unexpected visitors: small, Mars Rover-style robots, autonomously navigating between the Red Plant's 'craters' and 'boulders'.It's all part of a robotics programming competition being held at this year's Innorobo robot event in Paris. Organised by US-based software company MathWorks, the day-long event is called \"Mission On Mars\".\"Mission (On) Mars is this yearly competition we've done now, we're on the third year, and the concept is to invite people to use our software freely to evaluate it on this specific competition scenario which is the discovery of green sites on a three-by-three metre Martian surface by a little autonomous rover that you program with our software,\" explains application engineer, Paul Cox.To do that, competitors use these little rover-style robots. Each one is equipped with a sensor mounted on the front which provides information on distances between the robot and nearby obstacles.To complete the challenge, the rovers must autonomously navigate the 'Martian' landscape, locating a collection of green dots while avoiding obstacles. The fastest time wins.The aim is not to build a robot, but to optimise its algorithms so they can carry out the mission as quickly and effectively as possible.\"You have a three-by-three metre area with a number of sites - green targets, basically - that are placed in unknown locations within this area,\" explains Cox. \"In this arena you also have obstacles, obstacles are basically cardboard boxes that if the robot runs into they're immediately disqualified from that round, they have to try again basically.\"Organisers say around 550 teams initially entered the competition. They were first required to submit a digital Mars Rover simulation model to judges. The best 12 were invited to compete here at Innorobo.There are teams representing the UK, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Tunisia.That includes \"404 Group Not Found\" from UCLM in Albacete, Spain. The three-person group is made up of first-year students from the university's Computing Engineering course.\"It's complicated because we are young, we have never faced a challenge like this,\" says team member, Guille Ermo.\"Our teacher has trusted us so it was really difficult for us, but we are ready to face it.\"Attending from Toulouse, is \"Jack-o-Geiser\", four students from INSA engineering school's Electronics and Control Engineering course.\"It was really challenging because we didn't test our codes on the real robot,\" says team member, Caroline Martocq.\"So now we are seeing deforms that we didn't see on the simulation. So it's quite different.\"During the competition's first phase, teams are allowed to test their simulations in real-life conditions. This allows them to adapt their models to the way the robot behaves in real life.Sounds complicated, but 25-year-old Jaime Luis Martin Aleman says it's not so hard, once you've adopted a \"programming mind\".\"It's different - a programming mind and a human mind - you must see the problem and you need to know how to translate it into programme language,\" he says. \"Once you know how to translate it into programme language, it's not so hard.\"Once the morning's test phase is over, competitors must put their faith in their programming and allow the rovers to take on various scenarios completely autonomously and without any human interaction.Powerless team members watch on nervously as their rovers battle against the clock.\"The last few sessions where we have three or four different teams, three or four different robots, where they're competing for that last spot, some of the algorithms are all very similar, starting to get very efficient,\" says Cox.\"Just like watching a high-end soccer match, it gets pretty intense at the very end.\"In the final round, \"Jack-o-Geiser\" snatches victory from UK-based \"QSTAR\", ensuring the title remains on French soil.Students may have won this time, but MathWorks says the competition is open to everyone.\"One of the reasons that we've opened the competition up to people of all ages - from 15 up to 70-years-old, whether it's students, retirees or anybody can participate - is because we feel like anybody can improve their capability to model, simulate and develop algorithms,\" says Cox.Innorobo runs 24-26 May in Paris, France.Paris, France - 25 May 20161. Various of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena during MathWorks' \"Mission On Mars\" robot challenge2. Go-pro footage (POV) of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena3. Various of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena during MathWorks' \"Mission On Mars\" robot challenge and go-pro footage4. Wide of \"The Humans Are Dead\" team working during robot challenge5. Mid of team speaking with MathWorks representative during robot challenge 6. Over-shoulder shot of team member using MathWorks' MATLAB software7. Pull out of banner, reading (English): \"MathWorks\"8. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Cox, MathWorks Application Engineer:\"Mission to Mars is this yearly competition we've done now, we're on the third year, and the concept is to invite people to use our software freely to evaluate it on this specific competition scenario, which is the discovery of green sites on a three-by-three metre Martian surface by a little autonomous rover that you program with our software.\"9. Pan right of cardboard boxes decorated as Martian rocks10. Various of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena11. Mid of team working during robot challenge12. Wide of \"The Humans Are Dead\" team members high-fiving13. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Cox, MathWorks Application Engineer:\"You have a three-by-three metre area with a number of sites - usually the green targets, basically - that are placed in unknown locations within this area. In this arena you also have obstacles, obstacles are basically cardboard boxes that if the robot runs into they're immediately disqualified for that round, they have to try again basically.\"14. Various of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena15. Tilt up to \"404 Group Not Found\" team from UCLM in Albacete, Spain16. Over-shoulder shot of screen showing Mars Rover plotted course17. Setup shot of Guille Ermo, \"404 Group Not Found\" team member, working with team member18. SOUNDBITE (English) Guille Ermo, \"404 Group Not Found\" team member:\"It's complicated because we are young, we have never faced a challenge like this, our teacher has trusted us so it was really difficult for us, but we are ready to face it.\"19. Various of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena20. Wide of \"Jack-o-Geiser\" team from INSA in Toulouse, France21. Over-shoulder shot of screen showing Mars Rover plotted course22. Setup shot of Caroline Martocq, \"Jack-o-Geiser\" team member, looking at screen23. SOUNDBITE (English) Caroline Martocq, \"Jack-o-Geiser\" team member:\"It was really challenging because we didn't test our codes on the real robot, so now we are seeing deforms that we didn't see on the simulation. So it's quite different.\"24. Various of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena25. Close of screen showing Mars Rover plotted course26. Various of team member working on robot coding27. SOUNDBITE (English) Jaime Luis Martin Aleman, UC3M team member (University Carlos III Madrid) \"It's different - a programming mind and a human mind - you must see the problem and you need to know how to translate it into programme language. Once you know how to translate it into programme language, it's not so hard.\"28. Various of team member working on robot coding29. Mid of 'QSTAR\" team members watching challenge30. Close of Mars Rover camera31. Mid of Aleman and team member watching challenge32. Close of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena33. Mid of people watching robot challenge34. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Cox, MathWorks Application Engineer:\"The last few sessions where we have three or four different teams, three or four different robots, where they're competing for that last spot, some of the algorithms are all very similar, starting to get very efficient. Just like watching a high-end soccer match, it gets pretty intense at the very end.\"35. Close of screen showing Mars Rover plotted course36. Various of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena37. Mid of \"QSTAR\" team members watching challenge38. Mid of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena39. Mid of \"QSTAR\" team members excitedly watching challenge40. Close of Mars Rover-style robot autonomously navigating through Mars-themed arena41. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Cox, MathWorks Application Engineer:\"One of the reasons that we've opened the competition up to people of all ages - from 15 up to 70-years-old, whether it's students, retirees or anybody can participate - is because we feel like anybody can improve their capability to model, simulate and develop algorithms.\"42. Wide of \"Jack-o-Geiser\" team members collecting prize onstage43. Cutaway shot of audience member44. Wide of competitors posing for photo onstage45. Pull out of Mars Rover-style robot in Mars-themed arenaLENGTH: 6.55\n
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