HOUGHTON, Mich. – A team of students at Michigan Technological University pulled off an remarkable feat of engineering, building a fully functional robot in just 72 hours.
Rapid Robot Build: students Tackle 3-Day Challenge
the Copper Country Robotics team raced against the clock to create a competitive robot for the FIRST Robotics Competition.
- The challenge began at noon on Saturday and concluded at noon on Tuesday.
- Students worked primarily out of Michigan Tech’s Alley Makerspace.
- This year’s robotics game is described as a blend of basketball and Hungry Hungry Hippos.
- The team will compete at Grand Valley State University next month.
“In high school, when we have the full season to build, it’s about two months of building time,” said Preston Gump, a team member. “This… we have 72 hours.” This was Gump’s first time participating in the ‘Robot in 3 Days’ challenge.
The intense build schedule demanded notable sacrifice. “In the past 72 hours, I think I’ve gotten 15 hours of sleep or so,” Gump admitted. The team maximized their time, working from 8 a.m.to 2 a.m. on Saturday and Monday, and staying in the Alley Makerspace all night on Monday to continue their progress.
The challenge is part of the international FIRST Robotics competition, where teams collaborate in alliances to compete in a game that changes annually. gump explained that this year’s game involves collecting balls and shooting them into a hopper, resembling a fast-paced combination of basketball and the classic game Hungry Hungry Hippos. “This hopper that’s behind me is your main scoring element,” he added. “Our alliance will be trying to pick up as many of those balls, take them back to our zone, and shoot them into the hopper to score points, as we can, while the other team’s trying to do the same thing.”
What are the rules after the 72-hour build period? from now until the competition next month, the team is restricted from making any major alterations to their robot.
Team member Jack Coluccy expressed confidence in their creation.”We were a little behind this year, starting off, but we managed to pull it together and make the robot more efficient,” he said. “I think this is the better of the two years that we’ve made.”
The Copper Country Robotics team will now transport their robot to Grand Valley State University to test their skills in the upcoming competition. This marks the second year the team has participated in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
