MSOE to host Collegiate Aerial Robotics Exhibition
| Published: 04/05/2013 |
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The FIRST Collegiate Robotics Organization at MSOE will be hosting the 2013 Collegiate Aerial Robotics Exhibition at the Kern Center, 1245 N. Broadway. The event will be held on Saturday, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature teams from MSOE, Oakland University, University of Wisconsin–Platteville, and Virginia Tech competing in the Collegiate Aerial Robotics (CAR) Challenge.
The CAR Challenge is a platform through which ambitious college students will demonstrate robust acumen across the range of STEM, professional, and entrepreneurial skill sets on a global stage in friendly competition with their peers. The Challenge will feature two alliances consisting of two randomly paired teams, each providing a ground robot and an aerial robot for a match. During the match, both ground and air robots must obtain and manipulate tennis balls to score points.
CAR was founded in 2010 as the Collegiate Aerial Robotics Demonstration by a group of FIRST Robotics alumni. The program was motivated by inventor Dean Kamen, who visualized the prospect of what he called the “NCAA of FIRST.” With tremendous support from a dozen colleges and many FIRST alumni, the demonstration culminated at the 2011 FIRST Championships in St. Louis, Mo., where ten teams competed with their aerial and ground robots. While met with tremendous success in the demonstration year, the college-level challenge is not an official component of the FIRST repertoire of programs. Instead, CAR continues as its own volunteer-driven program, comprised of numerous FIRST alumni who wish to bring engaging and inspirational activities to college-aged students around the world.
SCOE Robotics is the collegiate robotics team at MSOE, which functions under MSOE's FIRST Collegiate Robotics Organization (FCRO). Along with participating in the CAR Challenge, the organization works to support the various robotics programs established by FIRST by mentoring teams of younger students in our area and volunteering at local FIRST competitions. In 2011, SCOE Robotics received the FIRST Support Award and was on the 1st Place Alliance. The organization’s executive committee worked tirelessly to bring this year’s competition to MSOE and looks forward to working with the MSOE community to make this event a success.
For updates on the competition, and the progress of MSOE’s SCOE Robotics team, please visit the team’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/SCOE.Robotics) or the CAR website (http://collegiateaerialrobotics.org).
MSOE is an independent, non-profit university with about 2,500 students. MSOE offers 20 bachelor’s degrees and nine master’s degrees in engineering, business, mathematics and nursing. The university has a national academic reputation; longstanding ties to business and industry; dedicated professors with real-world experience; a 94% placement rate; and the highest average starting and mid-career salaries of any Wisconsin university according to PayScale, Inc. MSOE graduates are well-rounded, technologically experienced and highly productive professionals and leaders.