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NASA announces competition to improve Robonaut's sight
NASA's got some of the sharpest minds in the world (actual, you know, rocket scientists), sure, but they'll be the first to tell you that sometimes you've got to look outside for the best solution to a complicated problem. In recent years, that's meant the organization has partnered with the likes of SpaceX to help transfer materials to the International Space Station. The desire to look outside has also taken the form of competitions, which, in the past, have sought to improve the efficiency of solar arrays and help better understand the massive amounts of data collected from various missions over a 30-year period. This latest competition, a partnership with TopCoder, deals with the unspeakably appealing category of space robots, aiming to improve the vision of NASA's head of menial space station tasks, Robonaut. At present, the 'bot's got the sort of sight problems that would have no doubt barred its fleshier counterparts from making their way through the training program.
NASA and TopCoder want you to create an iPad app for the International Space Station
NASA and TopCoder, a company that hosts programming competitions, is teaming up on a series of contests that'll develop apps for astronauts. One app challenge targets the iPad and will help astronauts keep track of the food they eat while they are working in space. The FIT (Food Intake Tracker) Challenge asks developers to design an iPad app that'll let astronauts enter the food they consume after each meal using voice, barcode scanning and pictures. The emphasis is on speed with the app ideally allowing astronauts to enter one week of meals in no more than 15 cumulative minutes. According to NASA, proper food intake is critical to the health of the astronauts because it lessens the negative effects of spaceflight on the body. The app challenge opened in February and ends in May. According to the contest timeline, there are few days left to register and submit your app concepts. [Via IntoMobile]
