This Saturday, April 14, 2012, students in the ENES101 Introduction to Engineering Science course will be competing in UMBC's second AROW competition. AROW, which stands for Academy Robotics on the Water, is an introductory engineering design experience developed by Captain Jonathan Russell, Lt. Cmdr. Brian Maggi and Stephen Grenier at the US Coast Guard Academy. Students are tasked with the design, implementation, test and operation of a robotic vessel to perform simulated tasks representing activities of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Working in teams of three to five, the students must design the propulsion, mechanisms, and programming necessary to accomplish simulated Coast Guard tasks, such as tending a light house, placing navigation buoys, cleaning and recycling and oil spill – represented by ping-pong balls – and rescuing Lego fishermen who have fallen overboard. Each team is given a budget and permitted to "purchase" structural elements for their design from a common supply. The competition will be judged on the basis of the cost-effectiveness of the various team designs.
The UMBC AROW competition will be held in the Atrium on the second floor of the Engineering building on Saturday, April 14. Each team will have four minutes to accomplish as many tasks as possible. A single competition session will start at 10 AM. Approximately 24 teams of ENES101 students will compete. The UMBC community is invited to view the competition from the third floor balcony of the Engineering building.
Saturday's event is the second AROW competition at UMBC. It is supervised by the ENES101 instructors, Dr. Anne Spence, Professor of the Practice of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Chuck LaBerge, Professor of the Practice of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and assisted by the ENES101 Teaching Fellows: Mathew Kurtz, Julia Lopez, and Elliot Mooney.
What: UMBC's Second Academy Robotics on the Water (AROW) Competition
When: Saturday, April 14, 2012. 10:00 a.m.
Where: Engineering/ Computer Science (ECS) Building: 3rd Floor Balcony