The Ultimate Space Challenge
We have a big announcement on mid-April, 2017 and we want you to be a part of it. Not only will you get to be a part of the event, but you could also be one of 20 lucky winners who’ll get to assemble a rover!
TERMS & CONDITIONS
- Complete the rover puzzle and send in your answer.
- This competition is open to anyone aged 13 years and above. If you’re a minor, you will need to have consent of your parents.
- 20 winners will be provided with travel to the venue and will get an opportunity to assemble a rover. We will only provide tickets for domestic flights.
- Deadline for entries is 6th April, midnight.
- TeamIndus employees and their immediate family will not be eligible for the competition.
THE CHALLENGE
Navigate ECA along the lunar surface and score the maximum points
Given below is the TeamIndus landing area, Mare Imbrium. The TeamIndus rover, ECA, has to complete a journey covering as much of the territory as possible while accumulating points. ECA starts at the landing site (centre/ yellow grid). Due to sensor drift, every time ECA moves, she drifts sideways.
She can implement moves a bit like a knight on a chess board three grids shaped like the letter L. Do note, every time ECA moves, she accumulates the score of every grid she passes over and stops at. Now, you are driving ECA and your mission is to explore the territory without stopping at the same point twice and get back to the landing site (centre/ yellow grid) with the maximum score.
PUZZLE RULES
1. ECA starts at the TeamIndus landing site (yellow grid) in the beginning with a score of zero. You need to bring her back to the landing site (yellow grid) which is where the puzzle ends and you calculate your score.
2. ECA has to move through the landing territory. Every time ECA moves, she accumulates the score of the grid she passes over and stops at.
3. The score associated with each grid is written in the legend.
4. At the end of every move, ECA stops at a grid before implementing the next move.
5. Throughout the mission, ECA cannot stop at the same grid twice. However, she may pass over a grid any number of times.
6. ECA must not go over the lunar mountains, they are too high and too dangerous for her.
7. ECA cannot move or stop over / at the lunar crevice, because she cant climb out of them.
8. ECA cannot jump over or skip a grid. All the possible moves are shown in the example image.
9.The solution with the highest accumulated score wins. In case of a tie, the genius with the maximum science bonuses picked up wins.
YOUR OBJECTIVE
Get the maximum possible score within the rules permitted. This means that there aren’t any limits to the number of moves you can make. The game ends and you calculate your score when ECA returns to the landing site (yellow grid).
HOW TO MOVE ECA
If ECA is in a free area, sitting at the centre grid (shown below for example), you can move to the pinkdotted grids (the set of all the possible next stops) by the following moves. This is similar to how a knight moves on a chessboard.
SOLUTION FORMAT
The solution needs to be provided in the moves represented by N,E,S,W (for north, east, south and west respectively). Each move needs to be separated by a “|”
For example, a solution can be: N,W,W | S,S,E | E,E,S | W,N,N
You may send in your best shot at the problem, any number of times!
20 WINNERS
Jithin Jose, Bangalore
Shweta Mazire, Pune
Dhruvin Rathod, Vadodara
Niharika Khopade, Thane
Surya Teja Cheedella, Bangalore
Vineeth Kaimal, Bangalore
Joe Eappen, Chennai
Dhyey Patel, Ankleshwar
Dixit Sethi, Noida
Tarang Shah, Bangalore
Manoj Kumar Garg, New Delhi
Dipika Varlani, Bangalore
Anuradha Surendra Babu, Bangalore
Swaroop Kagli, Mysore
Aravind Bharathy, Hyderabad
Suresh Kumar, Patna
Kirti Vishwakarma, Gurgaon
Meghna Chandra, Daman
Vaibhav Goyal, Ghaziabad
Arunita Ghosh, Bangalore
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