Brian Ondov ’05 and John Blackburn ’05 recently designed a robot and competed in season three of The Learning Channel’s Robotica television series as team Attrition.
"We are in the sport because it is a lot of fun and the competitions are a great experience," said Ondov. "It is a lot of hard work, but it is rewarding work, and we learn a lot while building robots and at the competitions."
Blackburn said that it was quite a challenge because he and Ondov only found out about the competition six weeks before the deadline.
Their robot, called Fury, weighs 210 pounds and is 30 inches wide by 30 inches long by 24 inches tall.
It drives forward at a top speed of 15 mph and accelerates at 32 feet per second squared. Using a total output torque of 167 foot-pounds, Fury’s drivetrain produces 400 pounds of forward thrust.
Fury is armed with a 24 inch vertically-rotating pipe with a chisel on each end as a weapon. The chisels, rotating at 3000 rpm, are acted on by 1.75 tons of force.
Fury’s invertible design is equipped with Lexan and steel armor for protection from attack by other robots and course hazards. It requires four horsepower for movement and two horsepower to use its weapon.
The design and construction of Fury reflects "what students do here on campus ... It shows how creative [they are]," said Rick Hartt, director of the Rensselaer Union.
"There are so many ways to build [a robot]. Every one is an expression of people’s creativity—the science and engineering of it."
Robotica is a television series in which contestant robots selected from around the country compete in a multi-level, multi-challenge obstacle course. It is broadcast from an 80 feet wide by 80 feet long arena in Los Angeles, Calif.
Contestants selected for Robotica usually have experience in mechanical engineering and often have competed in past robot competitions.
The competition’s four challenges are a speedway or giant figure-eight track, a fight to the finish, a gauntlet, and a maze.
Hazards such as oil slicks, walls of fire, fast-moving water streams, and hail storms disrupt robot operations during the challenges.
Fury can be seen competing on television during episode three of season three of Robotica.
