JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a robot?
Jacksonville University engineering student Ian Rivera says it’s a long process.
He and his team have been working on their prototype for an autonomous robot for about a year now. Next week, they’ll put it to the test against two other engineering teams at JU.
The goal is a chance to represent the university in the southeastern U.S. regional robotics competition in Atlanta.
The students are all juniors in the Davis College of Business & Technology, studying engineering.
The three engineering teams have been working separately since last fall to design, and now this semester, build their robots as part of their classes on design at JU.
But only one of the teams can represent JU in Atlanta, so they’ll face off at 9:30 a.m. March 7 in an internal competition to decide who is going to regionals.
Rivera and his teammates hope to perfect their creation in time for JU’s competition.
“This is supposed to be an autonomous robot in a way. It’s supposed to be able to do tasks on its own to get from beginning to end,” Rivera explained, showing us the power station and “brains” of the operation.
Zachary Leinart II oversees the robot’s designs, and he said the biggest challenge so far has been tailoring the robot to meet the competition guidelines.
“Definitely fitting the limitations within the competition to fit our mechanical design,” Leinart said. “There’s a lot of different rules you have to abide to, so you don’t get kicked out.”
The robots the students are making—in all shapes and sizes— must navigate an obstacle course that includes a zipline over a chasm and retrieve and deliver components for a simulated rocket assembly facility on the moon.
The robots operate autonomously and must complete their runs in 3 minutes. The robot that accumulates the most points wins.
Leinart said his team isn’t worried about the competition.
“We’re coming for you!” he said with a laugh. “But it’s going to be fun though.”