The students had to design autonomous LEGO robots to sweep a playing field clear of obstacles (eight empty coke cans). The robot that could clear the field in the shortest amount of time won the competition. Detailed rules are here.
The contest was held on the lower lobby of Sitterson Hall on Tuesday, October 16, 2001 at 11:00 AM. We had many spectators, both around the table and looking over the balcony on the mezzanine
.
Ketan was our volunteer scorekeeper.
Thanks also to Dorian, our volunteer timekeeper, Sarah who shepherded the students, and to Henry and Greg, respectively our photographer and cinematographer. Finally, thanks to Ann for arranging the post-contest pizza for the students!
Louie was the First Place winner with his robot, Zeus' Chariot. It was a come-from-behind win because the Chariot has fallen on the floor and broken to pieces on the first round. However, it was so fast that it cleared the cans in five seconds!
The Second Place finisher was Ebony and Josey's robot, Fragile Rock, which cleared the field in 42 seconds.
Fragile Rock was designed with two shaft encoders in an effort to follow a preset path to clear the cans off the field.
Third Place
Jason and Junji took third place with Diesel.
As you can see, Jason was pretty happy about the performance!
Without a doubt the most consistent and reliable performer was Ralph's robot, Mini-Ralph. It was the only machine to complete each of the three heats.
The robot had two arms, held up at an angle in order to meet the starting size requirements. The first thing the robot did was to lower the arms to a horizontal position, then sweep out from the middle of the field, back up, turn, and sweep again.
Carlos and Gabe had the most innovative robot, Spur of the Moment. It was in two pieces, and would extend across the field. While one side stayed in place, the other was supposed to sweep the cans.
Unfortunately, it just didn't have enough strength to finish.
Terry's robot, Stupid Machine, was doing very well on the last heat and looked like a winner, but a can got caught under the arms; they were just a bit too high. This kept his robot practically stuck in place.
Zack and Diane's robot, Easy Rider would run in an elongated spiral. Click image for video.
Unfortunately, it would tend to deviate from the axis of the field and fall off the table.
Is this Yin and Tristan's robot, He Forgot?
Last modified Friday, October 26, 2001 03:58 PM by lastra@cs.unc.edu