UMR's automomous robots -- the new Optical Prime and last year's Stereo Opticon -- are in Michigan this weekend, battling "brainiac" vehicles from 32 other universities, including Trixxie from Georgia Institute of Technology and Johnny 5 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition will run June 10-12 at Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Detroit. And while most university teams will enter four-wheel models, the UMR team is betting its three-wheel-drive vehicle will out maneuver the competition.
Orange cones are placed throughout the obstacle course. The robots must be able to differentiate colors and sizes, among other things. Team members have outfitted the UMR vehicles, which run on rechargeable batteries, with sonar and infrared sensors, stereo cameras and global positioning systems.
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