Bagley robotics teams impress at regional competitions
May 8, 2013
Two Bagley College of Engineering robotics teams earned recognition from regional competitions in April.
The six-member IEEE SoutheastCon (SECON) robotics team tied for fifth out of 56 teams at a regional competition in Jacksonville, Fla., April 6. The four-member MSU remotely operated vehicle (ROV) team earned Best Team Spirit and Best Engineering Selection awards at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center underwater robotics competition in Savannah, Ga., April 13.
Both competitions required that students apply classroom knowledge to develop and build a robot to perform a required task. The Mississippi State team members completed the projects as part of their capstone senior design course.
The SECON team began working on their team robot last fall. It uses a Web-based camera to autonomously navigate a course. Points are awarded for the correct placement of blocks into designated areas based on color and length. Points were awarded to a team each time the robot deposited the correct size and color block on its matching destination on the competition platform.
The team scored more than 300 points every round leading up to the final field-of-eight single-elimination bracket. Team adviser Robert Reese explained that one of the robot’s cameras became misaligned after being bumped in an earlier competition round, which ultimately cost the team points in the final rounds.
The 2013 Mississippi State ROV team is a first for the university. It competed in the ranger class of the competition with eight other teams from the region.
The competition tasked teams with building a submersible robot that could unlatch a crate underwater. Under the direction of adviser Jane Moorhead, the team began construction of its robot in January. The students operated the robot from the surface using two camera views to help navigate.
Team member Justin Gilmer said the students had no previous experience with underwater robotics when they began working on the project, but they learned a lot that can be applied to future projects.
Mississippi State robotics team members (by hometown):
BREAUX BRIDGE, La.— SECON team member Ian Turnipseed, is a senior in electrical engineering.
CARTHAGE, Miss.— MSU ROV team member Chance Sistrunk, is a senior in electrical engineering.
HOOVER, Ala.— Senior electrical engineering major Matt Watts is SECON team member.
LAMAR, Miss.— Robbie Lundine, senior computer engineer, is a member of the MSU ROV team.
MONROE, La.— Jackson Knott, the SECON team captain, is a senior in electrical engineering.
STARKVILLE, Miss.— Matt Williams, a SECON team member, and Mark McConnell, an ROV team member, are both seniors in electrical engineering.
TUPELO, Miss.— MSU ROV team member Justin Gilmer, is a senior in computer engineering.
VICKSBURG, Miss.— SECON team member Brian Lampkin,is a senior in electrical engineering.
WEST POINT, Miss.— John Morrison, a senior electrical engineering major, is a SECON team member.
By Mary Kate McGowan