"I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I'm rooting for the machines."
CLAUDE SHANNON, The Mathematical Theory of Communication
While Robots aren't (yet) able to command humans, they did command the Fairgrounds Saturday, April 16, as Chico State competed in RoboGames 2011 in San Mateo. RoboGames, also referred to as the Olympics of Robots, is the world’s largest robot competition; our Mechatronic Engineering and Computer Science students battled it out during the “Sumo” competition.
Chico students created robots whose sole purpose was to push one another out of the "Sumo" ring. The robots were autonomous; each had to find the other inside the ring and attempt to push the other out.
It was my first time at a robotics competition, and it was fantastic to see hundreds of hours of work put into practice. I was fortunate to be invited by two students I met on the road, Keith and Kris, pictured below. Both transferred from Santa Rosa Community College and have been active in robotics since stepping foot on our beautiful campus. All of our students were excellent in representing the US and were able absorb valuable information for next year's competition. Let it be known that Chico State has the ONLY accredited Mechatronic Engineering program in the United States. The students competing at this year's competition were part of Chico State's Computer Science 585 course, Robotics and Machine Intelligence, where they focus on autonomous robots guided by sensors and complex algorithms.
If Mechatronic Engineering or Computer Science sound like programs for you, be sure to visit our College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management website:
http://www.csuchico.edu/ecc/degree_programs/index.shtml
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