Southampton’s UK robotics champions take part in the Eurobot world final
Engineering students at Southampton who scooped the first and second prizes at the UK Eurobot robotics contest took their machines to Switzerland for the international final. Although the teams – Chariots of Wire and Crunch Time – did not win, everyone involved said it was a tremendous learning experience.
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Engineering students at Southampton who scooped the first and second prizes at the UK Eurobot robotics contest took their machines to Switzerland for the international final. Although the teams – Chariots of Wire and Crunch Time – did not win, everyone involved said it was a tremendous learning experience.
MEng Aeronautics and Astronautics student Simon Kirby was team leader for Chariots of Wire. “Quite honestly, it was pretty inspiring to see the winning robots from all over the world in action,” he says. “We enjoyed designing the robot and troubleshooting problems, putting the theory we learn at Southampton into action in practical engineering.”
MEng Mechanical Engineering student Luke Stoneman, led Crunch Time with a fellow third year; it was the pair’s second attempt at the contest. “We wanted to come back to improve our ranking because we enjoyed our first experience. Getting involved in projects such as Eurobot helps you meet people from all over the world and hone your skills in teamworking which will be vital later in your careers.”
Boeing Defence UK Ltd sponsored both the University of Southampton final and the trip to Switzerland for the winning Southampton teams. Stuart Wood from Boeing comments; “It was great to see what the students had achieved and how the designs had matured from the UK final.”
Eleven teams from Southampton entered the national contest at Middlesex University. As part of Dr Stephen Prior’s second year module Systems Design and Computing , they had to build a small robot using an Arduino processor for a brain, design a propulsion system, add arms and sensors, then programme the machine to pick and place items, competing against the clock with another robot. They carried out the challenge in the Design Workshops and Studios, supported by the technical staff. In all, 72 of the students who opted for Systems Design and Computing chose the robot project, others built a wing and control system for an unmanned plane, a 3D printer or a sophisticated loudspeaker. During the module, the groups developed their teamworking and time management skills; they were also encouraged to seek sponsorship for parts and components.
Chariots of Wire was made up of Simon Kirby, Anders Mundal, James Nash, Liam Nash and Abigail Basham, and they finished in 24th place; The Crunch Time team of Luke Stoneman and Mark Whistler sponsored by National Instruments took 30th place.