The Society of Manufacturing Engineers at WCU has some end-of-midterm season fun with a competition between handmade robots.
The SME president, Chloe Stewart, says the robot showdown creates not only a learning opportunity for students but also allows them to be creative within their engineering discipline.
“The Society of Manufacturing Engineers is an organization where we have fun, but we’re also focused on professional development and learning more about manufacturing,” said Stewart.
Five teams competed in the showdown and were evaluated based on how their robot performed, strategy when playing, and points scored during the competition. Their arena was a makeshift basketball court with goals on the ground. The teams competed with the objective of pushing the most objects into their opponents’ goal.
SME Vice President Sutton Smith says the competition was a collaboration between all of the engineering disciplines.
“So we had electrical, mechanical, and engineering technology all come together to try and create a robot that would be scored based on what object you scored into a goal,” said Smith. “And we had penalties that started with illegal starts.”
Stewart showed appreciation towards the students who competed in the competition, acknowledging the short deadline to build the robots under academic stress.
“Students had two weeks to complete this project, so it was very quick. They did it in their free time,” said Stewart. “We already have a busy schedule, so it’s really awesome to see how many teams came out.”
