Robotics Class Builds Robots!

Article, Video and Photos by Yolanda Douglas and Christopher Nesmith

M&M staffers

Anticipation filled the air Wednesday as the Duke TIP Robotics class prepared themselves -- and their robots -- for their "sumo-bot war" that would take place. After days of building and programming robots teams of two completed some final adjustments adding characteristics, such as torque, to give their robots as much of a competitive edge as possible when it came time to battle.

In the video two teams gave a preliminary battle before the actual competition. In the video, Doran and Ryan’s robot faced off against the robot made by Carson and Hal. At first contact, it seemed as if the battle was a stalemate, however after a few seconds other factors of the robot’s features like torque and specialized programming began to surface as Doran and Ryan’s robot began to take the advantage. Carson and Hal’s robot began to face technical difficulties as one of its wheels began to come loose. After a minute or so, the battle was called to an end to save battery power for the real “war” that would commence later in the day.

The Robotics class, taught by Instructor Travis Prochaska and TA Ben Bradshaw, were diligently working to finish their "sumo-bots" before the 2 p.m. competition. The air was mixed with tension and confidence. During interviews, most of the two people teams boasted about how their robot would win the Robot War; however, some of the teams were unsure. Two teams who had finished early demonstrated how the challenge would work. A circle is drawn on the floor, the robots are placed in the center and whichever robot is pushed out of the circle first, wins: a pretty simple concept."Basically, the robot is stupid without the programmer," said Stefan, a fourth year who hopes to become a computer programmer or an engineer. "You build the robot, plug it up to the computer and tell it what to do."

His partner, Austin Terry, also stated that he would like to work with computer and robots when he chooses a profession.

What goes in to making a robot? "A lot of love," Stefan laughed.

One would think that building a robot would require a large amount of math, but according to classmate Carson Wolf, "It doesn't take too much. Not as much as I thought it would."

Also, there was an odd twist. Only one girl chose to take Robotics.

“Why did you decide to take this course?” an M&M reporter asked, truly intrigued.“Well it seemed to be the most interesting course at the time,” she said. She picked the course because she hopes to be an engineer when she gets older. When asked about being the only girl in the class, she responded, “It was weird at first because I didn’t know anyone, but now it’s cool,” she said.

Later in the day, M&M reporters found out the results of the competition from Ross Yanuck. Carson and Hal’s robot came in first place, Doran and Ryan came in second and Kris and Ross’s robot took third.

The rest of the robots suffered from technical malfunctions in their programming.

“Basically, the nerdiest people in the class won,” Ross said. Ross also said he hopes to work more in robotics for a profession, and his TIP experience really opened his eyes.

“Maybe one day there will be a world with only robots,” he laughed.

Only time can tell.