GCRobotics: Engineering Ingenuity in Action

To equip engineering students with field experience before graduation, Geneva College requires all engineering majors to elect a two-semester senior design project related to their concentration. One of these exciting options is GCRobotics.

Assisted by project supervisor Dr. William Barlow, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Mr. David Clark, the team is gearing up for the Trinity College Assistive Robotics Competition this year.

“The Trinity College robot contests are open, nonprofit events that require invention of autonomous, socially relevant robots,” states the competition rulebook. “The contests promote creativity, teamwork, the understanding and application of STEM subjects, and the sharing of ideas.”

These values are well-established in Geneva’s team. “Most of us have worked together on other group projects,” said senior electrical engineering major and mathematics and physics minor Jessica Decker. “Because of that, we know what we can expect out of each other.”

During the 2014 fall semester, GC Robotics students set a $2,000 fundraising goal to make the trip feasible and the team sustainable. “These students prepare both hardware and software for the robot itself and raising the money to pay for parts, supplies and the trip to Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut,” explained Leila Wallace, professor of computer science.  

The team was founded in 2012 by students interested in robotics. This year’s team of four members is the first to attend Trinity College’s robotics competition. This triumph speaks to the dedication and capability of members Decker, and fellow senior engineering majors Grace Green, Michael McGregor and Andrew Sorensen.

GCRobotics is working to “design a versatile, modular, and adaptable platform capable of navigating a dynamic environment and performing a range of tasks.” This platform is a system of hardware and software modules capable of multiple tasks. And unlike some teams that buy pre-designed robots, GCRobotics is creating an entirely original platform.

“GCRobotics will be responsible for designing, building, and programming a robot to simulate retrieving food from a refrigerator and delivering it to a handicapped person,” said Barlow. “The simulation is scaled so the robot will be serving a doll in a wheel chair.  The robot that accomplishes this the fastest wins the competition.  The robot must be autonomous—no human control of the robot is allowed once the switch is turned on.”

Making the arms work involves “getting motors to run, creating motor drive boards, torque calculations and reduction, and many other details,” said Decker. “We also need the robot to be able to position itself in the room. It does that by ultrasonic sensors currently, which works, but our goal is to improve that communication between the sensors and the robot’s ‘brains.’”

 “People should be interested in this project because it is preparing the way for robotics being useful in the home,” reflected Sorensen. GCRobotics is a meaningful way for Geneva students to engage in God’s world by making advancements in technology.

-Holly Vizino ’15

January 2015

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