Student Robots Compete Head-to-Head at Design Competition
May 10, 2007
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Sixteen autonomous robots will go head-to-head Saturday, May 19, as their student designers vie for a $4,000 first prize at the 16th Annual Undergraduate Design Competition at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University.
Free and open to the public, the design competition attracts hundreds of spectators every year who enjoy the display of high technology and student ingenuity as well as food and music.
This year's competition, named "Capture the Flag," will start at 1 p.m. at the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center, 2133 Sheridan Road, on the Evanston campus. (A free pizza lunch will be provided at noon.) The event is expected to conclude around 3 p.m. with an awards ceremony. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three teams: $4,000 for first place, $2,000 for second and $1,000 for third.
Teams of Northwestern undergraduates representing a variety of engineering majors have spent six months designing and building autonomous robots using various parts, including microprocessors, actuators, motors, gears and electronic sensors. Remote control is not permitted.
This year each team must construct a robot -- no bigger than a 12-inch cube and not weighing more than 25 pounds -- that can climb and descend steep ramps to capture a flag in the middle of the course, transport it to the target area and place and release the flag. The flag, designed by the team, must stand upright on its own. Robots can break up into different components, but each piece must complete the course. The competition will be conducted in separate head-to-head speed trials, each three minutes long, with a double-elimination format.
Industry sponsors include Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Rauland-Borg, Northrop Grumman, Accenture, Deloitte and Federal-Mogul Corporation
