I recently ran into an acquaintance on campus. We got into the usual small talk, consisting of where we’re living and how we’re liking Madison. Inevitably, the conversation steered into what majors we are pursuing. I told her I am going for an engineering degree. At that, a scrambled look appeared on her face as she asked me, “Engineering? What do you do in engineering?”
"ReWIRED" was the team's 2007 entry in the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition.
Photo Credit: IEEE Robot TeamWhen it comes down to it, what engineers do is design. But, when I look through my classes, I find few that involve the design process. This can be a bit discouraging for beginning engineering students such as myself who sit through calculus and chemistry lectures wondering, “So when do we get to build something?”
Thankfully, there are student organizations out there that offer such opportunities. Among them is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
In 2003, IEEE student members at UW-Madison came together to design and construct their first robot, named “Oliver,” to compete in the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC). The IGVC is a competition held each year in June, and offers engineering students an opportunity to get involved with the design of an unmanned ground vehicle and compete for cash prizes.
The three award categories are design, navigation and autonomous challenges. The robotic vehicle is qualified only if it is grounded (propelled by means of wheels, tracks, etc.), is within the size limits (within 3 to 7 feet long, 2 to 5 feet wide and no higher than 6 feet) and operates without human guidance (no remote controls).
The design challenge is based on innovative design features in the vehicle’s hardware and software. The navigation challenge assesses the vehicle’s ability to travel from a starting point to designated destinations while circumventing obstacles such as barrels and fences. The autonomous challenge evaluates the vehicle’s ability to navigate around an outdoor obstacle course. The vehicle must stay within the white or yellow painted line boundaries, maintain a maximum five mile per hour speed and avoid obstacles, such as potholes and cones.
Though “Oliver” didn’t win anything in 2003, the UW-Madison Robot Team has made significant strides over the years. In fact, in 2006, they placed fourth in the design challenge—an award worth $1,000—for their robot named “WIRED.”
“We were pretty proud of it, because everyone else in the top five spent about $20,000 on their robot while we spent $1,500,” Jamie Tabaka, this year’s team leader, says.
Constructing a prize-worthy robot isn’t easy. There is a lot that goes into it. For instance, the design of the body has to hold a laptop, two lead-acid batteries (the same type of batteries used in cars) and power supplies. Power has to be included for the computer, the motors as well as the different sensors, all of which have different power requirements.
“We’re always working off of what we’ve learned in the past,” Ken Leedle, this year’s mechanical group leader, says.
Last year, for example, they put the batteries at the front. As a result, much of the weight was slightly forward of the front axle.
“When you’re going down a ramp [on the course], you have to control the motion very carefully. If you go too fast, the robot just tips over,” Dhananjaya Rao, this year’s embedded and electrical group leader, says.
Leedle admits that one of the downfalls of last year was that they didn’t get to do much testing prior to the competition.
To be qualified for the competition, the group has to turn in their design report at the beginning of May. However, as the team has found out from experience, the majority of the work starts only after this design report is handed in. As Leedle puts it, that’s when the “hardcore work sessions” and all-nighters start up. One of the reasons for the late start is that team leaders spend a good portion of the first semester training newcomers. This doesn’t leave much time for work on the robot design.
"ReWIRED" was the team's 2007 entry in the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition.
Photo Credit: IEEE Robot Team“We could probably get things [done] quicker if we didn’t spend all sorts of time bringing in new people and training them,” Tabaka says.
Many of the other teams in the IGVC competition aren’t very team-oriented. Rather, they “have a professor that runs the entire show, who decides what sort of systems they’re going to buy … and [then] buys all this really expensive equipment,” Tabaka says.
Though it takes a long time to bring new members up to speed, as Zac Witte, this year’s software leader says, “… it’s worth it. The main purpose is to learn and gain experience.” While new members to the Robot Team learn things like the basics of writing C code, veteran members learn how to improve their design from past years.
This year, the team has decided to use a new scripted interface language to remotely control the robot. This Universal Real-time Behavior Interface (URBI) framework should offer a much simpler and more flexible method for developing a robot that can interact with its surroundings.
Moreover, the team members have come to realize what it takes to impress the judges. “Most of the judges are in some sort of defense-related profession, so they’re attracted to certain things that could be modified for military applications. So we sort of pitch our design in a way that attracts them the most,” Tabaka says.
Last year, the team had a laser range finder that shot a laser to see what object was in front of it. Having realized that this wouldn’t be good for military applications, this year they’re trying to switch to an all-passive robot that uses stereovision—the same concept by which our eyes work. Stereovision is not only more militarily applicable, but also more intelligent. The new software will allow the robot to not only react to what is directly in front of it, but rather create a map of its entire surroundings in order to figure out the best path to take.
The team has also realized that, as Tabaka says, “the top teams that do well every year enter a couple robots into the competition.”
Thus, this year the team intends to enter last year’s entry with some slight modifications and also a robot with a completely new design. The benefit of this is that it not only increases their chances of winning, but it also gives them an opportunity to experiment with new features on last year’s robot before employing them on the new robot. The team hopes to have a good chance this year against some of the leading competitors, such as Virginia Tech, who continue to dominate the competition year after year. Though the team members acknowledge that winning would be great, they’re not about to just buy expensive parts in order to win a prize. Each member has a greater reason for being on the team.
Rao, for instance, has been interested in robotics for quite some time. When he saw the Robot Team as a student organization, his interest was instantly sparked.
“I was like, ‘Cool, this is something I want to do,’ so I started coming to meetings,” he says.
Leedle was part of his high school robotics team for three years. When he got to Madison, he was excited to hear there was a robotics team and didn’t hesitate to join.
“[You] get a lot of hands-on experience …you won’t get in your classes,” he says. “And there’s the benefit of having this on your resume,” Witte adds. So if you’re looking for a taste of engineering design, join a student organization—like the IEEE Robot Team