Mentoring Students For The Zero Robotics Galactic Greenhouse Competition

This summer I had the chance to mentor students in the Zero Robotics Galactic Greenhouse challenge, where teams programmed NASA’s Astrobee robots to plant, water, and harvest crops in a simulated space greenhouse. The competition works by having students write code that controls the Astrobee in a head-to-head simulation, where every decision such as when to plant, water, or harvest affects the score. Different crops were worth different points based on their growth time, and students had to manage limited water and battery life to maximize efficiency. There was also a “bonus crop” option which was unlocked by visiting the astronaut zone that could give extra points but was risky because of the time it consumed. At first, many of the students weren’t very interested, so to make it more engaging we set up Kahoots and Quizizz games with prizes like candy, which quickly made them competitive and got everyone involved. What made it fun was watching students strategize like real astronauts. One group debated whether chasing the bonus crop was worth the time, while another came up with a clever trick to track watering deadlines without timers. My favorite moment was right at the start, when none of us could figure out how to properly run the code from the interface even though it turned out to be pretty simple. In the end, all the effort paid off as our alliance finished in second place. Mentoring showed me that learning programming can be both challenging and playful, and I can’t wait to see how our students do in future competitions.