The robotics design project begins again in January 2011.
We expect to have 20 teams of first-year Engineering students working on designing, building and
programming their own autonomous robots. Over the 12 weeks of the
project, we hope to see novices become experts as
the participants develop their creative thinking and design skills,
while working on an interesting and challenging problem.
What is RoboRugby?
RoboRugby is a game where small autonomous robots try to score points by moving
balls into the scoring areas at each end of the playing table.
A match involves 2 robots and many balls of different colour and value.
Each match lasts for 60 seconds, and the position of the balls
at the end of the match determines the score.
(If your browser settings block the video above, you can watch it on
YouTube instead.)
The robots are designed and built by students,
mostly first-year Engineering students, working in small teams.
Each robot must be built from a standard kit of parts.
The robots are controlled by an on-board computer, programmed in advance of the
competition.
There is no remote control - the team cannot intervene during a match.
The robots must rely on their programming and on information from sensors to
navigate around the table, find balls and move them to the
scoring areas.
Why RoboRugby?
Design and problem-solving are an important part of an Engineering
education and there is no substitute for learning by doing.
The RoboRugby design exercise provides an interesting and enjoyable problem, with plenty of
scope for innovation and creative thinking.
The competition and prizes provide an extra incentive, thanks to generous sponsorship from
Siemens Ireland.
RoboRugby forms the basis of a module:
EEEN 10020 - Robotics Design Project.
It is available as an elective module under the UCD
Horizons system, to students who have taken an introductory module
in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
For more than 155 years, the Siemens name has been synonymous
with cutting-edge technologies.
Siemens' divisions are world leaders in automation and control, information and communications,
lighting, medical, power and transportation. Siemens and its
subsidiaries employ 430,000 people in 192 countries.
University College Dublin
UCD is a research-intensive university where we strive to advance
knowledge through cutting-edge research and to communicate knowledge
through excellence in teaching.
Through innovative links in Ireland and abroad, UCD has exciting educational and
research partnerships and collaborations with other academic, industrial and
not-for-profit organisations.
UCD's staff and students influence the fabric of Ireland's cultural,
social and economic development through a range of extramural activities.
School of Electrical, Electronic
and Mechanical Engineering
The UCD School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering at UCD has
35 academic staff, 20 support staff, over 100 postgraduate students and many
visiting researchers.
The School provides courses for over 400 undergraduate students, and is active in research in
a wide range of areas, including Digital Signal and Image Processing, Non-linear Circuits and
Systems, Optoelectronics, RF and Microwave Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Energy,
Magnetics and Machines, Materials, Manufacturing and Energy Conversion.
Origins
RoboRugby was created by lecturers Scott Rickard, Brian Mulkeen and Paul Curran;
students Maurice Fallon, Liza Kierans, John Healy, Vincent Grace and Peadar Grant;
and technicians Gerry Hughes, Frank Hoye, Declan Lehane, Liam Carroll, and Luke Dalton.
RoboRugby was inspired by the 6.270 robotics competition at MIT
and was created with support from a 2004 UCD President's Teaching Award and the (then)
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at UCD.
