Student engineers at Brigham Young University will pit miniature robot forklifts against each other during a BattleBots-style competition Wednesday, Dec. 6, from 2 to 4 p.m. in room 245 of the Crabtree Technology Building, which is south of the Wilkinson Student Center on campus.
Richard Helps, a professor of electronics engineering technology, said students in his class use the contest to showcase the cross-disciplinary skills and creativity they have developed during the semester. The class is designed to teach students how to integrate mechanical, electrical, computer and control-system theories.
The miniature robots are typically made of small computers called microcontrollers, sensors and custom mechanical structures. Students must pre-program them to follow a line, detect the position of other forklifts, identify and lift miniature wooden pallets placed in their path and move the pallets to other areas of the course.
The public is invited to this event.