RoboJackets

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RoboJackets is a group of Georgia Tech students, faculty, and alumni that aims to enhance the understanding of the field of robotics and its applications. The team also strives to increase of the number of students exposed to it. The group, located in the Student Competition Center, allows students to engage in a wide range of engineering-related activities, and has members from almost every engineering major of study offered at Georgia Tech. Students work collaboratively in a group environment and have the abilities to pursue projects on their own.

Contents

History

RoboJackets was founded in 1999 by a group of grads and undergrads interested in the BattleBots competitions. [1] The following year, they would start their highly respected FIRST outreach and mentoring program. The group's first home was in the J.S. Coon building. In 2003, due to renovations of the Coon building and the mechanical engineering department's move to new buildings, the RoboJackets were moved across the alley to the "Tin Building". After the move, the organization expanded to encompass a new IGVC team (started in 2003) and a RoboCup team (started in 2007). In 2011, the teams were relocated to the new Student Competition Center located on 14th Street, north of the Georgia Tech campus. In 2013, the RoboJackets IARRC team was created. Over the years, the team has grown from a handful of students to over 200 active members.

Competition

The RoboJackets participate in several robotics competitions, including RoboCup [2] Small Size league, FIRST, BattleBots, [3] the International Autonomous Robot Racing Challenge, and the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition. [4] The organization also takes part in a few local non-robotics competitions such as the Dooley Derby [5] and the Starlight Soapbox Downhill Challenge.

Education

Since 2001, the RoboJackets have run Technology Enrichment Sessions (TE Sessions) each fall to expose high school students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. [6] The sessions, typically 10 weeks in length, focus on concepts and skills needed to participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The sessions culminate in a robotics challenge which allows the students to apply their newly found skills to a real robotic system. Typical attendance is over twenty schools. This year, two sessions, an advanced and beginner session, are planned.

Independent Projects

The RoboJackets also encourages its members to work on their own independent robotics projects. Some of these have included a hexapod, an inverse-kinematic arm, an automated version of the Georgia Tech "Rambling Wreck" mascot, and a Roomba-like vacuuming robot.

Related Research Articles

A student design competition is a specific form of a student competition relating to design. Design competitions can be technical or purely aesthetic. The objective of technical competitions is to introduce students to real-world engineering situations and to teach students project-management and fabrication techniques used in industry. Aesthetic competitions usually require art and design skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College of Engineering, Trivandrum</span> Government Engineering College in Trivandrum

The College of Engineering, Trivandrum, commonly shortened to CET, is an engineering college in the Indian state of Kerala, situated in Thiruvananthapuram. Founded in 1939 by the Travancore monarch Chithira Thirunal, it is the state's oldest technical institution. It currently offers undergraduate, graduate and research programs in eight branches of engineering and has been affiliated to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University since 2015, prior to which it was part of the University of Kerala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buzz (mascot)</span> One of the two official mascots of the Georgia Institute of Technology

Buzz is the current official mascot of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Buzz is usually represented as a stylized yellowjacket with yellow-and-black fur, white wings, a yellow head, and antennae. Buzz is almost never drawn with six legs, but rather with arms, legs, hands and feet, like a human. Invented in 1972 and restyled in 1979, Buzz reflects the tradition of referring to Georgia Tech students as "Yellow Jackets." Buzz is also one of Georgia Tech's emblems and trademarks, one that they defended in a 1998 legal conflict with the Salt Lake Buzz.

RoboCup Junior (RCJ), sometimes stylised RobocupJunior, is a division of RoboCup, a not-for-profit robotics organisation. It focuses on education and aims to introduce the larger goals of the RoboCup project to primary and secondary school aged children. Participants compete in one of three main leagues: Soccer, Rescue or Dance. Dance Theatre also exists as a sub-league of Dance, and Premier Rescue is part of the competition in Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditions of the Georgia Institute of Technology</span> Aspect of Georgia Tech culture

Numerous Georgia Tech legends and traditions have been established since the school's opening in 1888, some of which have persisted for decades. Over time, the school has grown from a trade school into a large research university, and the traditions reflect that heritage. One of the cherished holdovers from Tech's early years, a steam whistle blows every weekday at various times to mark the changing of classes. It's for this reason that the faculty newspaper is named The Whistle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Georgia Institute of Technology</span> Aspect of history surrounding the Georgia Institute of Technology

The history of the Georgia Institute of Technology can be traced back to Reconstruction-era plans to develop the industrial base of the Southern United States. Founded on October 13, 1885, in Atlanta as the Georgia School of Technology, the university opened in 1888 after the construction of Tech Tower and a shop building and only offered one degree in mechanical engineering. By 1901, degrees in electrical, civil, textile, and chemical engineering were also offered. In 1948, the name was changed to the Georgia Institute of Technology to reflect its evolution from an engineering school to a full technical institute and research university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robofest</span> American youth competitive robotics league

Robofest is an autonomous robotics competition for 4th - 12th graders. It is similar to FIRST Lego League (FLL), but while FLL limits the student's robots to Lego Mindstorms robots, Robofest allows the student to use any robotics system, parts, materials, or even custom electronics, in some of the events. Note that FLL students are required to use parts manufactured by Lego only, preventing the use of such aids as string or glue. Another important difference is that Robofest games have UTF components. Students must solve the unveiled tasks and factors within 30 minutes work-time without external help. Lawrence Tech's Robofest was founded by Computer Science Professor Dr. Chan-Jin Chung in 1999–2000 academic year and is sponsored by Lawrence Technological University and other sponsors. LTU's Robofest is also held internationally, in countries including Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, England, France, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Macau, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and UAE. Teams who win their regional event are welcome to participate at the worldwide tournament held at Lawrence Technological University in Michigan. ROBOFEST is a registered trademark of Lawrence Technological University in the US and other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow Jacket Flying Club</span>

The Yellow Jacket Flying Club (YJFC) is a non-profit, student run organization at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia which exists to provide opportunities for those in the Georgia Tech community to pursue their passion for aviation. The YJFC is open to Georgia Tech students, faculty and staff, alumni, and their immediate families and is one of the few well-established university affiliated flying clubs in the United States.

The Student Competition Center is the home of the student competition teams at Georgia Institute of Technology. These teams include GT Motorsports, GT Offroad, Solar Racing, RoboJackets, Wreck Racing, HyTech Racing, and the EcoCAR team. The building, operated by the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, provides teams with the facilities to participate in their respective competitions. The facility is located at 575 14th Street in Atlanta, Georgia, adjacent to the Georgia Tech campus.

There are a number of competitions and prizes to promote research in artificial intelligence.

The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) is a global robotics competition for young people. The World Robot Olympiad competition uses Lego Mindstorms manufactured by LEGO Education. First held in 2004 in Singapore, it now attracts more than 28,000 teams from more than 85 countries.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to robotics:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology</span> Engineering societies based in the United States

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is an international youth organization that operates the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST LEGO League Challenge, FIRST LEGO League Explore, FIRST LEGO League Discover, and FIRST Tech Challenge competitions. Founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1989, its expressed goal is to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields. Its philosophy is expressed by the organization as Coopertition and Gracious Professionalism. FIRST also operates FIRST Place, a research facility at FIRST Headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, where it holds educational programs and day camps for students and teachers.

Team 1717, D’Penguineers, were a FIRST Robotics team associated with the Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy (DPEA) in Goleta, California. D’Penguineers have won multiple awards at the regional and international levels of the FIRST Robotics Competition, and participate regularly in outreach programs for junior high and elementary schools. The team was highlighted in the book The New Cool.

Robot Combat League (RCL) is a television show on the Syfy network about robot fighting competitions. On the show, teams use exosuits to control fighting robots. The series is hosted by Chris Jericho, and premiered on February 26, 2013 at 10 PM EST.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology</span> Buildings in Atlanta, Georgia, United States

The main campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology occupies part of Midtown Atlanta, primarily bordered by 10th Street to the north, North Avenue to the south, and, with the exception of Tech Square, the Downtown Connector to the East, placing it well in sight of the Atlanta skyline. In 1996, the campus was the site of the athletes' village and a venue for a number of athletic events for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The construction of the Olympic Village, along with subsequent gentrification of the surrounding areas, significantly changed the campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RoboMaster</span> Annual intercollegiate robot competition

RoboMaster is an annual intercollegiate robot competition held in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, founded and hosted by the drone tech giant DJI. First started in 2015, it is the brainchild of DJI's founder and CEO Frank Wang, and jointly sponsored by the Communist Youth League Central Committee, the All-China Students' Federation (ACSF) and the Shenzhen City Government. It is the first shooting sport-style robotics competition in China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chan-Jin Chung</span> Computer science professor (born 1959)

Chan-Jin Chung (정찬진) or popularly known as "CJ" Chung is a full professor of Computer Science at Lawrence Technological University(LTU) in Michigan, USA. He founded an international autonomous robotics competition called Robofest in the 1999–2000 academic year as well as numerous educational programs for youth by integrating STEM, arts, autonomous robotics, and computer science. He also served as the founding USA National Organizer of World Robot Olympiad (WRO) in 2014 and 2015. He also started the WISER conference in 2014. His research areas include evolutionary computation, cultural algorithms, intelligent systems & autonomous mobile robotics, software engineering, machine learning & deep learning, computer science education, and educational robotics.

The Technoxian, World Robotics Championship Series is a tournament where teams from all over the world comes to India to participate in various robotics challenges including Bots Combat, Robo Race, Robo Soccer, Maze Solver, Water Rocket, Drone Racing, RC Plane Racing and Innovation. 6th Edition of the championship held at Indira Gandhi Arena, India.

References

  1. Back, Alan (2000-08-25). "Bringing Mean Machines to Life" (PDF). The Technique . Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  2. Tabita, Craig (2007-06-29). "RoboCup attracts best of the robotics, AI worlds" (PDF). The Technique . Retrieved 2007-07-30.
  3. Back, Alan (2000-08-25). "Metallic mayhem reigns supreme at Robot Battles 2000" (PDF). The Technique . Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  4. Lee, Jennifer (2003-01-17). "Students craft robot, take on Virginia Tech in new battle of 'bots". The Technique . Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  5. Molberg, Anna (2006-10-17). "Gravity Propels Racers at New Derby". Emory Wheel. Retrieved 2007-06-24.[ dead link ]
  6. "Georgia Tech". FPmonthly. 2007-03-05. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-06-25.