The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) is proud to announce that Team Inflection Point of the Batangas State University (BatStateU) has won second place in the 5th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC).
The Kibo-RPC is an international challenge organized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During the challenge, each team created code to program NASA’s free-flying robot, Astrobee, to designated locations within the Japanese “Kibo” module aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Out of the 611 teams from Kibo-ABC member countries that submitted their entries, 13 teams made it to the final round of the 5th Kibo-RPC. Inflection Point is the first-ever Philippine team to join and win at the Kibo-RPC.
The Final Round was held on 09 November 2024 at the ISS, where the 13 programs were individually run on Astrobee by NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps. The programs were assessed and rated based on how effectively they met the challenge objectives.
Astrobee runs Inflection Point’s program as NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps instructs it to locate an object in the International Space Station. Screenshot from JAXA’s ”5th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC), Final Round 軌道上決勝大会” (Orbital Finals) livestream (09 November 2024).
Inflection Point’s program scored 250.88 out of 270 points, earning them second place. Their score only has a three-point difference from the first-place winner, team Astronut of Thailand, with 253.09 points. Additionally, Inflection Point and Astronut were the only teams whose programs succeeded in completing all the objectives set out by JAXA.
5th Kibo-RPC score results for the first to ninth ranks. Screenshot from JAXA’s ”5th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC), Final Round 軌道上決勝大会” (Orbital Finals) livestream (09 November 2024).
Watch the live test of their program here: https://youtu.be/p3Yr3Uk-Bu0
Team Inflection Point is composed of second-year aerospace engineering students from BatStateU namely, John Royeth Samson, Andrew Cabile, Benedict Lontok, Ahron Martinez, Amer Panganiban, and Howell Dela Cruz.
This is the first time that the Philippines has participated in Kibo-RPC. As the central government agency addressing all national issues and activities related to SSTAs and as a member of the Kibo-ABC program, PhilSA spearheaded the local call for the 5th Kibo-RPC applications. 29 team applications were received nationwide from 2 April to 27 May 2024, and 7 teams successfully submitted their program entries.
For the full recording of the 5th Kibo-RPC Final Round, visit JAXA’s YouTube Channel here: https://youtu.be/v-ZtCfUONVU
About the Kibo-ABC program
The Kibo-ABC program or Asian Beneficial Collaboration through Kibo Utilization was established by the Space Frontier Working Group (SFWG) of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) to promote the utilization and share the value of the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo,” enhance the capacity of participating organizations, and foster collaborative projects between Japan and Kibo-ABC member countries.
The Kibo-RPC, through its member organizations, is one of the activities under the Kibo-ABC program that aims to expand the use of the Kibo module on ISS and develop the youth’s understanding of space environments.
For more information on the Kibo-RPC, visit: https://jaxa.krpc.jp/