| Robotics Challenge at Penn State Abington |
Penn State Abington Robotics
Saturday, December 3, 2005 , beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Mini Grand Challenge
and
Annual Robo-Hoops Contest
Free and open to all ages - - K-12, college, professional
Robo-HOOPS contest web site:
http://www.ecsel.psu.edu/~avanzato/robots/contests/robo-hoops/contest05.htm
Mini Grand Challenge web site:
http://www.ecsel.psu.edu/~avanzato/robots/contests/outdoor/contest05.htm
For more information, contact Bob Avanzato at 215-881-7358
Robotics challenge at Penn State Abington Mirrors $2 million DARPA grand challenge
The United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has held the "Grand Challenge" for many years, a mobile robotics competition that puts the brightest young minds in our nation's colleges and universities to the test to create mobile robots that can traverse hundreds of miles and a great many obstacles. Now, those college and university students—as well as everyday folks with an interest in robotics—have a similar competition in the Philadelphia region in which they can compete. And they don't need to invest thousands of dollars in technology to do so.
The Penn State Abington Mini Grand Challenge outdoor robot contest, set for December 3 on campus, challenges mobile, ground robots to autonomously navigate paths throughout the campus of Penn State Abington College while avoiding obstacles and tackling off-road detours. The objective of this contest is to promote advances in engineering design, computer technologies, artificial intelligence, and robotics education. The Mini Grand Challenge is slated from 10 a.m. to noon.
"The Mini Grand Challenge should be a challenge for competitors, and interesting and entertaining for spectators," said Bob Avanzato, coordinator of the program, and associate professor of engineering at Penn State Abington. "What makes the competition really interesting is that, after making it through the one-half mile to one-mile course, the robots will need to leave the path and cross a field to find a particular location."
Unlike the DARPA challenge, the Penn State Abington Mini Grand Challenge will allow for low cost—yet highly sophisticated—robots to compete. This competition is open to all ages (K-12, college, professional). One of the unique features of the competition is that Penn State Abington is providing information for those who would like it on how to construct a low-cost robot platform to be used in this contest. The software, sensors, and interface are left to participants.
This robot contest is also dedicated to educating the public and local community in the areas of engineering, computer software technologies, robotics, and stimulating career interest in these fields. As such, spectators are welcome to observe the free Mini Grand Challenge robot event. Robots will be encouraged to interact with and entertain the spectators, and they will be rewarded for exhibiting interesting behaviors such as joke telling, song playing, voice announcements, etc. These robots are computer-controlled and completely autonomous—not remote controlled—so just about anything can happen.
On the same day, the annual Penn State Abington Robo-Hoops Contest will be held on campus, immediately following the Mini Grand Challenge. Also, Penn State Electrical Engineering graduate Damon Bradley, a native of South Philadelphia and employee at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland , will discuss robotic exploration initiatives and community service opportunities from noon to 1 p.m. For information on participating in, or attending, either of these free events, please call Bob Avanzato at 215-881-7358.