Engineering and Computer Science Students Conduct Robotics Competition
One of the groups negotiating the competition arena
JONESBORO – The student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) at Arkansas State University conducted its first Red Wolf Robotics Competition for 5th-8th grade students from area schools.
Chapter members are majors in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The event was held in the Centennial Hall, Reng Center.
The competition required students to design and assemble a “pick-and-place” robot using the VEX IQ kit, which the college provided to each team. The objective was to pick up a set of objects that were placed at random locations in the competition arena along with various obstacles.
Each robot was commandeered by a student to negotiate the obstacles, then “pick” and “place” the objects into a bin located at one corner. Scoring was based on a points system which also included penalties. The teams were allowed to use a tethered or a wireless robot.
Seven teams competed, representing five different schools, with each team consisting of four students. The winning team, from Annie Camp in Jonesboro, did a terrific job of designing a unique robot and successfully managed to pick up all the objects with minimum penalties, according to the competition organizers.
The other participating schools were Buffalo Island Central, Highland, Oak Grove and Westside.
The event was organized by Dr. Shivan Haran, program director and associate professor of mechanical engineering. He was assisted by more than a dozen A-State students from the mechanical, electrical and civil engineering programs.
The College of Engineering and Computer Science plans to conduct another competition during the spring semester, with increased participation from a number of area schools.
The winners and runners-up with the entire group.
