UA robotics team members, from left, Cory Wunderlich, Michael McIntire, Nick Fragiskatos and Dan Pramik make final adjustments to their robot.
A team of freshmen students in electrical engineering took first place last weekend when its 3kg sumobot beat the competition at the National Robotics Challenge in Marion, Ohio. Freshmen Igor Vinograd, Patrick Morgan and Zac Kilburn also received the Honda Innovation Award nomination for their robot.
Fellow classmates and freshmen Codie Millhone and Daniel Barber-Cironi designed and constructed a 50-pound autonomous sumobot that finished in second place at the competition. College of Engineering Technologist-Emeritus Rick Nemer served as the team adviser during the competition.
At a separate event at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., last weekend, a team of senior electrical and computer engineering students participated in a difficult senior division competition designed to encourage students to develop personal robotic assistants for people with limited mobility. Team members Cory Wunderlich, Michael McIntire, Nick Fagiskatos and Dan Pramik, along with their robot Duckworth, finished in second.
This weekend, UA robotics team members are headed to the 10th annual Robo Games in San Mateo, Calif. Under the direction of faculty adviser Dr. Tom Hartley, professor of electrical engineering, the robotics team has designed and built robots that will fight fires, navigate mazes, engage in combat and more.
“Robo Games is a huge event that draws many people from the public,” says robotics team captain Richard Johnson. “We’ve worked hard to get our robots ready for competition.”
Media contacts: Sarah Steidl, 330-471-8142 or steidl@uakron.edu , or Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@uakron.edu.