“October Obliteration” – Robot Combat IEEE Foothill WiE Event
| November 26, 2018 | Posted by Alberto Tam Yong under General, Student Activities, WIE, YP |
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“October Obliteration” – Robot Combat IEEE Foothill WiE Event
On October 20, a robot combat even was hosted by Mount Sac College Professor Martin Mason and supported by a local Chapter IEEE Foothill Women in Engineering (WiE). IEEE Foothill CPP WiE Faculty Advisor Dr. Jenny Yu, President Megan Francisco, Vice President Stanley Baran, Secretary Jennifer Bernert, Industry Representative Cesar Silva, and Webmaster Tiffany Dewitt helped to put on the event and made sure that the robots got to see some action. CPP ECE Robotic Arm Senior project Team Leader Serena Castillo, former team leader Ben Cheng, team members Chang-Hong Kuo, Arol Nocedal, Alexander Pitawanakwat (advised by Dr. Jenny Yu) served as the judgers of the competition.
IEEE Foothill CPP WiE’s Jennifer Bernert also was a participant in the “ant” robot event (robots under 1 pounds) in which her robot “Bailey” went up against “Sharp Cheddar” in the arena. The robot combat event consisted of several classes according to weight. Each robot hosted a “weapon” in some sense. These weapons could range from a simple wedge which was used to flip an opponent upside down to a spinning blade, used to shred opponents in half. The teams and contestants were able to show their creativity and passion for engineering through design, aesthetic, and fighting mechanisms.
IEEE Foothill CPP Project Development officer Allen Phuong built a 15-pound bot to compete in the National Robotics League. He put together the bot a week before the competition. Within the week he learned how to weld in three days and manage to create structural welds that can handle major impact. The type of bot that he built was call a “Thwacking” bot where they used their driving skill to inflict damage. His weapon of choice was a hammerhead welded to a rebar. He managed to win third place due to his driving skills and strategies against his opponents.
Members of IEEE Foothill CPP WiE helped contestants go through check in, which consisted of weighing in, and also going through safety checks, which made sure the robot did not spin out of control in the arena. After safety checks were completed, they started queuing robots in for battle. In some cases, the fights could go on for the whole allotted time slot, which was three and a half minutes. Other fights ended quite quickly, with one opponent getting completely obliterated! Each robot demonstrated how engineering students can utilize their skills to have fun and also work together successfully as a team.
Reported by: Stanley Baran
Two robots during combat!
A participant prepares his robot for battle.
Each team has a work station where they can fix up their robots after battle.
IEEE Foothill CPP WiE’s Jennifer Bernert drives her robot “Bailey” during battle.
IEEE CPP’s Allen Phuong shows his robot “Fistbump” during battle.
IEEE Foothill CPP WiE & CPP Robotic Arm Senior project Team during the event.
Original Report: IEEE_newsletter-1020183