Students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department participated in the IEEE Southeast Conference robot contest again this year. Twenty student robot builders traveled to Columbia, SC to compete in the SECON 2002 Student Hardware Contest. Three teams built independent entries to vie for the honor of representing UAH at the competition. Two of the teams (Silver Streak and Head Banger) were enrolled in section 2 of the senior design class EE 494, and the third team (Brand X) consisted of four students enrolled in CPE 496 and two students who participated in the SECON 2001 student hardware competition.

This year's competition was modeled after the old computer game Pong. A table 45 inches wide by 64 inches long was used as the Pong playing field. Robots were allowed to be no wider than 8" across and occupied a 10" zone across either end of the table. Practice golf balls were introduced at the center of the table and the robots batted them back and forth trying to score points by placing a ball in the scoring bin behind the opponent's robot. The playing field was divided in the middle and sloped gently towards either end to keep the ball in play. An overhead camera provided the robots with a video image of the playing field.

The Silver Streak team built a unique robot that used one 5 inch diameter wheel driven along the table surface to intercept the ball, which was returned with a pneumatically driven paddle. The robot (see photo) used a pillow block riding on a shaft above the rear of the table to keep it with the back 10 inch zone allocated for the robot. Silver Streak members are Derrick Cameron, Preston Chidebelu, Wykeisa Jackson, Daniel Miller, Miranda Parton, Robert Sawyer, Scot South, James Stafford, and Julie Troup.

The Head Banger robot (see photo) was more typical of the majority of robots at the SECON competition. It used a ball return mechanism that was suspended from two shafts across the back end of the table. The return device was a V-shaped plastic catcher with a solenoid pinger that propelled the ball across the table. The catcher was mounted on a servo motor so that it could be rotated right or left to bank the ball off the table side rails and a motor-driven timing belt moved the catcher across the table. Head Banger members are Jana Bladow, Willie Harper, Josh Hester, Kyle Holdmeyer, Patrick Johnson, Virginia Kibler, Ellen LaFiore, Elizabeth Lampkin, and Marty LeBlanc.

The Brand X robot (see photo) used a motor-driven cable system to drive a combination catcher and return mechanism across the table. The ball return was a rotating paddle that hit the ball diagonally across the table. Unlike Silver Streak and Head Banger, Brand X used a chip-based rather than a microcontroller-based design to control the robot's motion. Brand X members are Ande Boyer, Shirley Goosby, Bridget Johnston, Jeremy Nuckols, Nathan Wincey, and Jana Woodham.

A few days before leaving for the SECON competition the three teams competed against one another at UAH. After six matches the Silver Streak team emerged undefeated and traveled to Columbia to represent UAH. This years competition was one of the most heavily attended in recent times, with 27 schools represented. The competition started at 8 a.m. and ended around 10 p.m. Silver Streak placed 10th in the double elimination tournament. All the students worked very long hours to design and build their machines and all deserve credit for ingenuity, persistence, and competitive spirit. The students are especially grateful to the IEEE Huntsville Section for their generous grant that helps fund the hardware expenses for the robots. Additional funding is provided by the ECE department.

John Piccirillo is a part-time instructor at UAH that teaches the senior design class for the IEEE Student Hardware Competition.