WKU faced steep competition at the IEEE Southeastcon 2011

Electrical engineering students returned to the 2011 IEEE Southeastcon to defend their title in the Hardware Competition in Nashville, TN.

Competition Parameters
In consideration of recent natural disasters, particularly tsunamis and earthquakes, IEEE decided that this year’s competition would focus on the use of modern technology to assist emergency responders with accurate and timely information to ensure the survival of as many victims as possible. Teams created emergency response robots which were designed to evaluate the scene and relay important information to response teams.

Specifically, the project required robots to locate a victim, establish the health status of the victim, detect potential hazards in the area, and to dispatch that information to emergency responders already standing by. Following relatively loose physical specifications, the robots were designed to navigate the course autonomously. Upon discovery of a victim, the robots were required to audibly state the location of the victim within the course and within the room as well as  his status. In addition, this information was to be transmitted on a display on the robot. Robots had a time limit of four minutes to complete each round.

The Team and the Competition
Under the guidance of staff engineer Ron Rizzo and faculty members Dr. Mark Cambron, Dr. Michael McIntyre, and Dr. Stacey Wilson, team members Jonathon Marques, Cody Mahan, Billy Seng, Josh Stover, Adam Embertan, Randy Fulling and Brandon Miller worked countless hours in the design and testing of their robot.

In the weeks leading up to the competition, they could be found the Engineering Service Center and the Electrical Engineering Project Room at all hours. Some would be diligently writing code while others would be soldering components together. Following competition specifications, the team built a test course. While completing their numerous trial runs, the team continually attempted to devise worst case scenarios through which to better test their robot.

Traveling to Nashville, the team worked well into the night prior to the competition. Slotted as one of the first teams to compete in the first round, they continued to make last minute adjustments. As the morning progressed, the ballroom filled with spectators. Between official runs, team members volleyed between watching other schools compete, modifying the hardware and programming, and using the practice course. In the course of these adjustments the team fielded questions from children, students and faculty from other schools, as well as passing humorous quips back and forth.

The team ranked 13^th overall. As this was the most complex robot ever built by the department for an IEEE competition, the team was quite satisfied with their placement.

“We were on the doorstep. We didn’t think to test the battery after the test runs. Next  year will be different.”

The students are already looking forward to next year’s competition in Orlando, Florida.