Although the weather is warming up, St. John Arena will be cooling down to host the Ohio State University College of Engineering robot competition this week. First-year engineering students from the Ohio State Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors Program will test robots they designed and built in a competition to simulate a mission where robots complete tasks at a research station in Antarctica.
From 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 22, the students will set their robots in motion around a specially-built, 12- by 12-foot course to simulate a research station with instructions to launch a weather balloon and retrieve a sled of equipment left behind by research station workers out on the icescape. The robots, limited in size to 9 inches square and constructed of sheet metal, PVC pipe and Erector sets, must also locate and extract an ice core sample. These tasks must be completed within two minutes.
The competition requires each of the 60 teams of three to four students to design, build and program an autonomous robot using creativity and engineering principles. In addition, a significant portion of their assignment involves planning, managing and documenting their work on the project.
What: First-Year Engineering Honors Student Robot Competition
When: 4-5:30 p.m., Thursday, May 22, 2008
Where: St. John Arena, 410 Woody Hayes Drive, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Who: 60 teams of Ohio State First-Year Engineering Honors Students
Why: Student engineering teams will test robots in competition with other teams
Editors: Please see below for more details. Photographers and videographers are welcome to attend the event and take photos or video during the competition.
FACT SHEET
The Ohio State University College of Engineering Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors Robot Competition May 22, 2008, St. John Arena
THE COMPETITION
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The main objective for each team is to build a self-controlled, self-contained and self-propelled robotic vehicle that will travel over a well-defined course and complete the following tasks:
- Begin the task by responding to a “starting light” in the floor of the starting area
- Launch a weather balloon
- Return a sled of equipment to starting area
- Locate and extract an ice core sample
- Return to its own starting area and signal it is finished
- Teams will be scored based on their design and how well the robot performs in both individual and head-to-head competition runs.
- Each team will have one minute to set up its robot before each run. Each run will last 2 minutes from the time the start light/signal is activated.
THE ROBOTS
- Size/Shape: Each robot, in its starting configuration, must be no larger than 9 inches by 9 inches and no taller than 12 inches.
- Parts: Robots are constructed of Erector parts, PVC pipe and adhesive, PVC sheet made into structural shapes, or a combination of these. Other structural materials including wood and sheet metal are also possible. A sensor kit was provided, which included a CdS cell, an IR receiver, an optosensor and two microswitches or touch sensors. The robots operate with motors and batteries.
- Judges: The judges for the event will be representatives of the companies that have sponsored the competition through donations. Those companies include Honda, Shell, National Instruments, P&G, Lockheed Martin, Eaton, Raytheon, Alcatel-Lucent, Northrop Grumman, ExxonMobil, Chrysler and Alcoa
Professor John Demel, faculty coordinator, First-Year Engineering Program, (614) 292-2427 or demel.1@osu.edu.
For more information about the college�s First-Year Engineering Program, visit http://feh.osu.edu.May 19, 2008
