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RoboRugby 2012

RoboRugby runs again...

This robotics design project is starting again.  In the next few weeks, we expect to have 21 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.

News:

For results from 2011, see the competition page.

Pictures below courtesy of Pierre Jolivet, UCD

Sponsor
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. 
School of Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering
The UCD School of Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering at UCD has 16 academic staff, 8 support staff, over 50 postgraduate students and many visiting researchers.  The School provides taught modules for students at Bachelor and Master level, and is active in research in a wide range of areas, including Communications, Signal Processing, Non-linear Circuits and Systems, Optical Engineering, RF and Microwave Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Energy, Magnetics and Machines.
Origins
RoboRugby was created by lecturers Scott Rickard, Brian Mulkeen and Paul Curran with support from a 2004 UCD President's Teaching Award and the (then) Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at UCD.  We have had great support from technicians Frank Hoye, Declan Lehane, Liam Carroll, Luke Dalton and the late Gerry Hughes (RIP).  Project students Maurice Fallon, Liza Kierans, John Healy, Vincent Grace and Peadar Grant also helped in the development of the module, and many teaching assistants help to deliver it each year.  RoboRugby was inspired by the 6.270 robotics competition at MIT.

 

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