LaserMotive Team Nabs $900k Prize

For those of you following the space elevator games, the LaserMotive team was awarded the second place $900,000 prize. Their design, which used a ground based laser to power a robot, climbed nearly 3,000 feet in about 3 minutes and 48 seconds. The LaserMotive team was the only team to meet the criteria necessary to claim one of the top prizes. They could have won the top prize of $2 million if they could have ascended the course more quickly.

The LaserMotive team used a ground based laser, pointed upwards, to power their robot platform. Once the laser light reached the robot, a photo voltaic cell converted the light into electricity. Once powered, the robot scaled a cable that was being dangled from a helicopter nearly a kilometer in the air.