Automated sex devices took on a whole new meaning Saturday on the Garrett Theological Seminary lawn.
With homemade matching shirts proclaiming them “Sex Machine Operators,” McCormick junior Josh Held, his fellow designers and their “Sexquicentennial Machine” robot were one of 31 student teams competing in the tenth annual Sesqui-Scramble Design Competition
“We’re hoping to win sexiest robot,” Held said.
The competition was the conclusion to this year’s McCormick Engineering Week, sponsored by Ford Motor Co. More than 600 students and community onlookers came to watch student-designed robots battle for points and a $3,000 first prize.
Robots with creative names like “Phrench Phried Phrogg Leggs” and “Lord Calvert’s Duck Felt” raced in a three-minute round, attempting to collect golf balls and hold down switches on the black rectangular course designed by Sesqui-Scramble student members.
“This is the only time students get to build stuff,” said Alina Laurie, Design Competition president and McCormick senior.
“It can be frustrating sometimes because you don’t get to do it in classes; you’re too busy with problem sets. An engineering student likes to see how things work,” Laurie said.
Undergraduate students form teams in the fall or work alone to build autonomous robots using $500 from Design Competition to purchase materials. Laurie, who won the competition last year, said students spend about 300 hours of work and testing to make a good machine.
The best designs had multiple pieces in order to collect the golf balls while activating the switches at the same time, said Andrew Bauer, McCormick sophomore. Bauer’s team won second place with their robot, “Thanatos.”
While crowds cheered the dueling bots, students at nearby tables tested their contraptions, repaired broken mechanisms and checked data on laptops connected to freestanding red power generators with orange electrical cords snaking through the grass.
“When we did this in the beginning it was nothing like this,” said Woo Shik Kim, NU alumnus and one of the founders of the competition. “Look what 10 years did to it.”
As an undergraduate student, Kim, a friend, and engineering Profs. Allen Taflove and Alan Sahakian started the competition to design mechanical tools that would sort recyclables as part of an Earth Day celebration.
Kim said the event was originally “very small and very funny” compared to Sesqui-Scramble 2001, the largest competition to date.
“I’m more impressed every year,” said Kim, who came to the event as a representative from ADC, one of 16 Design Competition corporate sponsors.
Taflove, an advisor and judge, said the event could have died after the first year but that students took initiative to continue the event.
“It started off as almost nothing and it’s sort of taken on a life of its own,” he said.
Between rounds, competition officials did “course maintenance,” testing light switches and using a mini-vacuum to clean debris while competitors met with judges to settle rule discrepancies over aggressive robots.
“The prize brought out a lot of competition,” Taflove said. “We had some controversy, but it was like salt and pepper – added some spice to it.”
After two final battles against team Thanatos, McCormick senior Michael Minbiole took first place with his shiny silver square robot, “Custom455.”
Although he didn’t work with a team, Minbiole said he had help from his older brother, an electrical engineer.
“It was a fun excuse to build something,” he said. “It feels like the work paid off.”
Second-place winners took home $1500 and third place received $750. Judges also awarded $50 prizes for teams with the most spirit or innovative designs.
Sadly for Held’s team, the sexiest robot award went to MAD Engineering, who claimed the award with Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” playing in the background.
