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| Melissa versey / Scroll |
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Using Lego kits and a little know-how, three student teams made robots that could perform a variety of tasks at the Robot Competition held in front of the campus bookstore Thursday, Sept. 29.
“We wanted to find a way to get students interested in technologies that they might want to pursue professionally,” said Kevin Smith of the Computer Science and Engineering Department. “Our focus was on targeting freshmen who haven’t decided on a major yet.”
Each team was given the task of building a robot from Lego’s that could put a CD away, move a pair of glasses from one point to another, push some miniature chairs toward a table, dump eight balls into a basket, climb a set of steps then stop and completely open a gate and go through it.
“When we heard about it, it sounded like a lot of fun and we’re all Computer Engineering majors so this is what we plan on doing for a living,” said Trevor Chadwick, a freshman from American Fork, Utah, and a member of team The Borg.
Over a total of eight hours, the teams built their robots using Lego Mindstorms Kits and RoboLab software that would allow their robots to perform the required tasks autonomously, without the use of hands or remote controls.
The teams had four chances to do as much of the course as they could within two and a half minutes. Points were given for each event depending on its difficulty.
Team The Knows, won with an overall score of 835 points. The Dragons followed with 565 and then The Borg with 490.
“I focused on doing as many categories as I could,” said Kyle Atkinson, a freshman from Middleton, Idaho, and the only remaining member of The Knows, “I also got really lucky. The Borg’s robot had a dying battery and they weren’t able to get up the stairs.” Atkinson’s team failed to show up for the last three meetings. He did much of the work alone.
Other awards were given for the most innovative approach, best mechanical structure and teamwork. Innovation went to The Knows for their simple design and ski-like structures in front that added in lifting and flipping objects. Teamwork and best mechanical structure went to The Dragons for the strength of their robot, propulsion and least Legos that fell off.
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering hopes to make this event a regular each semester, but as of yet, Smith says that no permanent plans have been set.
