The crowd cheered Saturday as Peter and Britney raced down an obstacle course, popping balloons and picking up tennis balls in a tournament at Blomquist Recreation Center.
It could be any other field-day type even that takes place this time of year, except that Peter and Britney aren’t Greek-affiliated or members of residential colleges. They are robots.
Peter and Britney were two of the 15 robots that competed in the 14th Annual Undergraduate Design Competition for a $4,000 prize. The design competition was the culmination event of Ford Engineering Week. About 200 spectators from Northwestern and Evanston watched the self-sufficient robots compete in Saturday’s tournament.
The team Electrical Dysfunction won first place and $4,000; the Lost Boys received second place and $2,000 for its robot Peter, and Oops, We Did it Again won third place for its robot Britney Spears.
Robots raced one-on-one in an obstacle course created by the Design Competition and the winning robots advanced to higher rounds in the competition. The course rotated each round of the tournament. Teams worked months to design the robots to detect each balloon to pop, tennis ball to pick up, doorbell to hit and wall to avoid.
“It’s fun seeing the crazy ideas people come up with,” said Keegan Atkin. The 10-year-old Evanston resident comes to the competition every year with her parents.
Each robot was designed differently to complete the obstacle course.
“We designed our robot with simplicity in mind so we could change it on the fly,” said David Becker, a McCormick junior and a member of the five-person Electrical Dysfunction. The robot used ultra-sound detection to detect any change in the robot’s environment.
The team members of Electrical Terror and most other teams took the independent-study Engineering Design class Winter and Spring Quarters. This is the first year the class has been offered for credit. Teams still put in more time than the average class assignment.
“I haven’t gone to bed before 9:30 a.m. since last Thursday, ” said Andrew Mazotas, a McCormick sophomore and member of the second place team the Lost Boys. “I’ve probably worked 500 hours on this.”
Third-place winners Mia Ihm and Rachel Scheidegger, both Weinberg seniors, decided to enter their fourth Design Competition only a week and a half ago. At the last minute they took out their robot from last year, slapped some pink and glitter on it, and named it Britney. The creativity earned them a certificate for “Sexiest Robot” and their highest place finish.
“The competition was better this year,” Ihm said. “Last year was about being fast, this year was about skill.”
The competition has expanded since its inception in 1992. It received its first sponsors in 1995 and each team now receives $450 to create their robots, said McCormick Prof. Allen Taflove, a competition adviser. The competition has been held in the back room of Blomquist Recreation Center for the past few years. Next year it will move to the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center scheduled to open this summer.
Reach Diana Scholl at [email protected].
