2025 Tutorials

 

Zero Robotics (ZR) is a programming competition where Astrobee satellites inside the International Space Station (ISS) are controlled by programs developed by YOU! You will create, edit, share, save, simulate, and submit programming code in order to accomplish whatever your given task is. After several rounds of competition, finalists will compete in a live championship aboard the ISS. An astronaut will use your code to conduct the championship competition in microgravity with a live broadcast!

 

Due to the transition to the new Astrobees, the following table shows the tutorials available for learning to program in the ZR IDE for the 2025 High School relaunch.

 

2025 PROGRAMMING TUTORIALS INDEX

No.

Tutorial Name

Description

1

Create an ZR Account

Set up a ZR account to access ZR IDE.
(Sandbox setup instructions if needed). 

2

Invite Team Members

Allows a team leader to add team members.
(aka Manage Teams)

3

Piazza Signup

Use Piazza to ask questions, get answers, and receive updates from ZR. See others’ Q&As during the program. 

4

Share Code with Team

Learn how to create a group project and share code with your team members. 

5

Introduction to the ZR IDE Programming Basics

Getting to know the IDE and emphasizing basic C Coding Structure 

6

Programming Basics - Part 2

Emphasize C Coding Structure part 2 

7

Control Structures and Conditionals - Part 1

Conditionals and Loops, If/Then. 

8

Control Structures and Conditionals - Part 2

Conditionals and Loops, Else if/Else  

9

Control Structures and Loops

Using For Loops and While Loops for advanced control structure and repetitive tasks  

10

Functions and Modular Code Design

Defining function parameters, return values, code organization, and scope  

11

Pseudo Code

How to write pseudocode; What readable pseudocode looks like; Why it is helpful. 

12

Movement / Distance Calcs

How to move, Compute Distances Between Robots and Block positions. 

13

Data Structures

Arrays, Searching and Sorting Algorithms  

14

Optimization & Strategy Algorithms

Greedy search, knapsack type problems, threshold-based decision making. 

15

Code Submission

Instructions on how to submit your code.  

 

2025 API REFERENCE

The  API Functions document describes the available functions that can be used in your code.

 

As Zero Robotics transitions from using the SPHERES to the Astrobee Satellite, we wanted to centralize your teaching tools into one location.  If you have suggestions on how to improve these tutorials or the content within the educator guide, please email those suggestions to MIT’s ZR Partner, the Innovation Learning Center, at Katie@MassILC.com.