2/28/2024
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Now mid-way through the spring semester, the registered student organization, iRobotics, has already completed several competitions and outreach events.
In mid-January, three teams and six robots from iRobotics traveled to Connecticut to compete in the National Havoc Robot League (NHRL). The team boasted four 30-pound robots (Goose, CRACK, Budget Extinction, and Colossal Avian) and two three-pound robots (Choppa Boppa and segfault). Of these robots, four made it to the final bracket for their respective weight class – and one of their 30-pound robots – Colossal Avian – came in 2nd place, winning a cash prize of $1,400. The win also came with an invitation to the world championship, which will take place this November in Norwalk, Connecticut.
The annual Pacbot Competition is traditionally held at Harvard University, but after winning the National Championship in 2023, iRobotics wanted to host its own competition. Held February 10th in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, and despite the other teams dropping out of the competition at the last minute, the team welcomed the University of Toronto. With a maximum score of 2,500 points, iRobotics beat out U. of Toronto 2,500 to 190.
This past weekend saw the team hosting a DPD Robobrawl. The DPD event (Design.Print.Destroy!) is a class of combat robotics in which the fighting robots weigh just one pound each. Students are provided a set of electronics, working in small teams to design, print, test and compete their own BattleBot. The February 24 event had 18 competitors and was a double-elimination style tournament. The winning BattleBot, Eclipse, with 5/5 knock-outs, was built by Matthew Zhang, a senior in mechanical engineering, who had won the Fall 2023 DPD event as well. The event was sponsored by Milwaukee Tools.
“We debuted a new 6x6 ft arena at this event to allow for bigger and better robot combat, and we will be working to improve this arena for Robobrawl 2024,” said Coggan Banerian, MechSE undergrad and vice president of iRobotics.
Check out the video from the event! (on YouTube) >>
The RSO – which is the largest robotics student organization on campus – has also participated in several outreach activities with local elementary schools, including a STEAM night and a science club demonstration. Banerian said the group’s focus now will shift toward preparing for their demonstrations at Engineering Open House in early April.