Category: Robotics

Robotics Contest: It’s Official!

jconrad / / Arduino, Robotics

Atmel has posted the official press release at it’s website.   Here’s an abstract:

Three Winners Announced for Atmel Robotics Contest

San Jose, CA, October 4, 2012 – Atmel® Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, today announced winners for the Atmel Robotics Contest, sponsored by the Atmel University Program. Judges challenged the teams to bring Mel, the University Program mascot, inspired robots to life at the World Maker Faire 2012 in Queens, New York, on Saturday, September 29.
Congratulations to the three winning teams:
  • Third place: Roger Tang, Ali Kocaturk, Sam Baran and Syed Sakib from the University of Texas, Austin for their robot, DWAI (Don’t Worry About It)
  • Second place: Kristina Pardo, Andrea Fant, Evdokiya Kostadinova and Haris Khan from Furman University for their robot, Aldo
  • First place: Ryan Huston from Folsom Lake College for his robot, Pinhead
The four judges were Alf-Egil Bogen, Atmel AVR® microcontroller co-inventor, Brian McLaughlin,GeekDad’s editor, Eric Weddington, Atmel’s open source community manager and Bob Martin, Atmel’s MCU applications manager.

An announcement has also been posted on the Furman News and Events page.

Robotics Contest: Home Again, Home Again

jconrad / / Arduino, Robotics, STEM

The team is home safe and sound.  We picked them up at GSP around 6pm.  They’re excited but exhausted.  Aldo made it home as well–no problems getting through security at La Guardia.

At the time of this post (about 8pm) there are still no formal press releases from either Atmel or Maker Faire, but the team reports that Maker Faire did an intensive photo and video shoot of the awards/demonstration ceremony.

We are very proud of the team!

Furman Robotics Team Heads Off to the 2012 Atmel Robotics Contest

jconrad / / Arduino, Robotics
Furman Robotics Team packed up and ready to head out for GSP!
Furman Robotics Team packed up and ready to head out for GSP!

Those of you (all three of you) who have been reading these Furman Physics STEM blogs may have noticed that from a newsworthiness point of view they are about as exciting as watching grass grow or watching paint dry.  Maybe not quite that exciting.  A hah!  Today we have some news to report! The Furman Physics Robotics Team is off to the 2012 Atmel Robotics Contest which will be held this weekend at the World Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science in New York City.    Furman students Andrea Fant, Haris Khan, Evdokiya Kostadinova and Kristina Pardo have constructed an autonomous robot (which they have christened “Aldo”) that will perform a specific set of challenges established by the sponsor, the Atmel Corporation.    This project, part of the Furman Physics STEM Initiative, has been a four month long, high intensity activity on the part of the students and is under the direction of Dr John Conrad of the Physics Department.