Tomorrow, 16 UBC student teams will compete to find out who has designed the smartest, fastest “rescue robot.”
The challenge: Each robot must travel an obstacle course by itself, guided by nothing more than its onboard computer. On the course, the robots will need to navigate various hazards to locate and rescue up to six small stuffed animals representing pets trapped in a burning building. The robots will then exit to safety via a 10-foot zipline.
Event: Pet-rescue robot competition
Date: Thursday, August 6, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Location: Hennings Building, 6224 Agricultural Road, Room 200
Map: http://www.maps.ubc.ca/?652
The event is the highlight of a 12-week prototyping course for second-year engineering physics students.
“The challenge is different every year,” said instructor Jon Nakane. “We’ve had hockey-bots and police-bots, build-bots and doctor-bots. The students get a chance to design every aspect of their robots—the electronics, mechanics and computer programs — in under five weeks.”
The students and instructor are available for interviews. Set-up space will be available for TV cameras. Contact Jon Nakane at jnakane@physics.ubc.ca or call 604.562.6524 to arrange.