Robotics Club Hosts Sumo-Bot Competition
The Robotics Club, a byproduct of BVU's new computer science program track, AI/robotics, hosted its first sumo-bot competition. Students built and operated robots that competed against each other in a sumo wrestling simulation.
Jason Konz and Axel Hernandez leaned toward a black mat emblazoned with “BVU” lettering on a November evening in the Estelle Siebens Science Center. They joined four peers and Dr. Shawn Stone, BVU Professor of Physics and Computer Science, in making history for the University.
The Robotics Club’s first sumo-bot competition was underway.
“It’s cool to be a part of this,” says Hernandez, a sophomore physics major who participates as a wrestler for the Beavers.
This represented wrestling of a different stripe. Members of the Robotics Club, one of the newest organizations on campus, made robots that followed computer commands to “sumo wrestle” a robot foe, attempting to push one another off the mat.
“It’s a great activity that’s giving us experience in this area. I’m hoping to get into a career that focuses on autonomous vehicles and the use of artificial intelligence.”
Jacob Hull, BVU junior
“I joined the Robotics Club last year because I figured participating with the club would help me become an engineer,” says Hernandez, a native of Dumas, Tex. “I want to learn what I can about robotics and computer programming.”
Konz, a sophomore computer science major from Granville, echoed his classmate’s remarks. He learned of the start-up club at BVU’s Plunge event in the fall of 2019. He signed up immediately.
“We sought out a grant last year and obtained the robot kits through the grant,” says Konz, whose mother and sister earned accounting degrees at BVU. “We used our time in the club to go over the manuals provided with the kits. We learned ‘Robot-C’ code, which is also called VEXcode, and wrote it to instruct our robots.”
Robotics Club members also used BVU’s 3-D printer, purchased with funding from the Stine Family Foundation, to print plastic parts of each robot. The units must weigh less than two kilograms and can be no larger than one foot by one foot.
The Robotics Club is an outgrowth of a new program track within the computer science major, artificial intelligence/robotics. Stone, the 2020 George Wythe Award winner for teaching excellence at BVU, directs the academic track. He also serves as Robotics Club advisor. Additionally, he built a robot for the competition.
“We were supposed to compete in a sumo-bot competition in Milwaukee, Wisc., but it was cancelled due to COVID-19,” Stone says. “So, instead, we had members of the club build their units and compete against one another here at BVU. After seeing the competition play out, I’m confident our sumo-bots would have competed very well against those from other colleges.”
“It’s a great activity that’s giving us experience in this area,” says Jacob Hull, a junior computer science major from Alta and the winner of the inaugural competition. “I’m hoping to get into a career that focuses on autonomous vehicles and the use of artificial intelligence.”
The new academic track was approved by BVU’s President’s Council and President Brian Lenzmeier when he served as BVU Provost.
“Artificial intelligence and robotics will have connections to our new agriculture programs as well as to medicine and the future of manufacturing,” Lenzmeier says.
Hernandez, who partnered in the competition with Ramon Garcia, a sophomore physics major from Denison, was pleased their robot defeated Stone’s robot, even though it took three attempts to get the victory.
“It took three tries, but we finally got Dr. Stone,” Hernandez says. “You can tell how much he (Dr. Stone) enjoys the activity. It was a lot of fun for all of us.”
After watching his autonomous robot search and find its foe, following pre-set commands, Konz cheered for a quick victory.
“This is teaching us creative problem solving,” he says. “It’s helping me to think abstractly. We’re thinking about a situation and trying to find the best solution.”