The University of Akron College of Engineering Robotics Team completed its combat robot, which will compete in the seventh annual International RoboGames 2010 event. The games are scheduled for April 23-25 in San Mateo, Calif.
Robotics Team member Lee Beavers prepares to weld titanium under a jacket of argon gas. Titanium, donated to the team by the Defense Metals Technology Center, was used in the creation of UA’s combat robot, ready for competition in this week’s RoboGames 2010 in California. (Photo courtesy of the Defense Metals Technology Center.)
North Canton-based Defense Metals Technology Center (DMTC) sponsored the team with about $10,000 worth of titanium and supplied its members with uniform jackets to wear during the event. The students used the titanium to craft armor for their robot, which measures 48 inches wide by 38 inches long and stands 7 inches tall.
According to Dr. Tom Hartley, UA professor of electrical and computer engineering and team adviser, titanium enabled the team to design a robot with a construction stronger than steel, yet nearly as light as aluminum.
Titanium could be winning difference
“We are excited to be working with DMTC and to get this titanium donation. It provides us, not only with an obvious competitive advantage for our robot, but also the opportunity to learn more about the material properties of titanium,” says Hartley.
Described as the world’s largest robot competition by the Guiness Book for Records, the event features combat robots, walking humanoids, soccer bots, sumo bots and kung-fu performing androids that compete in 51 different events.
Last year, UA’s Robotics Team earned four medals in the International RoboGames in San Francisco, including a first-place gold medal with its maze-bot, which met the challenge to autonomously and quickly maneuver through a maze. The team’s 340-pound combat robot “Juggernaut” and its tether-bot space elevator both placed second in their respective categories. The team also placed third with its “Z-Tank,” a 3-kilogam, autonomous sumo bot.
About the Defense Metals Technology Center
The DMTC was formed in January 2007 to establish an industrial base capable of affordably producing such strategic metals. The organization addresses the identified needs of the U.S. Military in the development and manufacture of vital defense materials. Utilizing the combined strengths of the metals industry and military and academic sectors, the DMTC is a direct response to the call by the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center for an industrial base that competitively increases the production of defense materials.
Media contact: Paige Poleondakis, 330-972-6482, or Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@uakron.edu.