BCoE’s ‘Top Gun’ blows away competition at regional event
April 21, 2014
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State University’s Top Gun team lived up to its name, placing first in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics annual robotics competition.
Their sharp-shooting design led to the defeat of more than 40 teams from other universities in the 2014 Southeast Conference (SECON) event. The group of six seniors became the fourth MSU team since 2003 to bring home the trophy in this competition.
“We are elated and relieved that our hard work paid off,” team leader Rebecca Rougeau said. “We are proud to have represented the electrical and computer engineering department so well.”
The SECON student competition took place on March 15 as part of the IEEE regional conference at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. This year’s competition honored the host school’s most celebrated sport with a basketball-themed challenge.
The competition asked teams to build an autonomous robot that could follow three lines on the court, locate a randomly placed stopping block, and fire three darts through a target “hoop.” Teams were awarded points each time they successfully completed these tasks.
Top Gun’s robot completed the first round of competition with no mistakes, leading to an early lead. In the second and third heats, it experienced navigation issues, resulting in a drop to fourth place.
Just in time for the final round, the team altered the robot’s programming in an attempt to combat the navigation problems. Top Gun’s updated code allowed the robot to finish with 100 percent accuracy for shots fired in the final round. They were the only team to complete two perfect rounds.
“Lots of hard work, late nights and early mornings contributed to this win, as well as weekly meetings with our adviser, and during the competition, a bit of luck,” Rougeau said.
The robot’s design features a microcontroller with a line follower, color sensors and a moving platform for the guns. It also has a vision recognition unit built from a high-resolution camera and powerful central processing unit.
Project adviser Robert Reese, an associate professor of electrical engineering, provided technical support for the team. He has served as project adviser in the past, but this is his first year to help lead a group to victory.
“The team did everything that was needed to have a good robot and win the competition, so they are fully deserving of what they earned,” Reese said.
Team members by hometown:
AMORY – Senior Thomas McCollum, electrical engineering
CANTONMENT, Fla. – Team leader Rebecca Rougeau, senior in electrical engineering
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – Senior in electrical engineering, Logan Shannon
GAUTIER – Khanh Nguyen, computer engineering senior
KOSICE, Slovakia – Senior Alexander Holeczy, computer engineering
STATE LINE – Katie Williams, senior in electrical engineering
Information about the Bagley College of Engineering can be found at www.bagley.msstate.edu.
By: Erin Boozer