mechanisms we have found to
attract students into our industry
and teach them about the highly
technical, well-paying career
opportunities in manufacturing.”
Bloomsburg also received
recognition for “Coolest Robot”
(Excessive Force) by a vote of all the
student participants. Competition
judges awarded Fayette County
(Georgia) Area Vocational Technical
School a certificate for “Best
Documentation” for their Grim
Reaper III robot, and the University
of South Florida Robotics Interest
Group’s The Brain was awarded 1st
place in the day’s competition.
“One of the most educationally
effective components of the
weekend was the professional
review of the engineering
documentation and personal
interviews with the student teams,”
said Michael Bastoni, coach of the
Plymouth (MA) North High School
Team. “This represents ‘Best
Practices’ with respect to project-based learning and authentic
Sparks fly as machines crash in the arena.
Getting student’s hands inside precision machinery is the NMTA’s goal.
Vincennes University’s Aviation Technology Center provided an impressive venue.
assessment, and was a particularly
beneficial experience for the student
designers and builders.”
The NRL Championship was
sponsored by DMG/Mori Seiki,
Grainger, and DS Solid Works.
• 2nd Place: Bloomsburg Area High
School, Bloomsburg, PA
Team: Malicious Intent
Robot: Pixie
The top three finishers in the
robot battle competition:
• 3rd Place: Venango Technology
Center, Oil City, PA
Team: Joy Manufacturing
Robot: Khaos
• 1st Place: University of South
Florida, Tampa, FL
Team: USF Robotics Interest Group
Robot: The Brain
For more information, photos,
and competition videos, visit
Facebook.com/gonrl or contact
Caitlin Andrews at
caitlin.andrews@bgllp.com. SV
Dust in the Wheels
● by Kevin Berry
With apologies to the band, Kansas:
Dust in the wheels ...
All they see is dust in the wheels.
One of the things I spent a lot
of time looking at when reporting
on Lunabotics 2011 was wheels.
This — along with my irreverent
reference to mellow 80’s music —
may sound trivial. However, taking
robots into the real world is a nontrivial exercise. The simulated
regolith — or lunar soil — used in this
competition is a viscous, vicious,
SERVO 08.2011 33
