USI hosting 10th annual LEGO® robotics competition

The University of Southern Indiana's Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education will hold its 10th annual LEGO® Robotics Competition, from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 8 in the Griffin Center located on the USI campus.

The annual event is organized by the USI student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and with support from the University of Southern Indiana Foundation. The event is hosted by an all-volunteer group of full-time students and is free and open to the public. Doors open at 8 a.m.

Local middle school or high school students will compete in teams of up to four students to work together to design, build and program a LEGO® Mindstorms® robot to complete the mission.

Up to 25 teams from the surrounding area will compete and be judged based on four criteria: design, presentation, creativity, and team spirit. Robotics is a rapidly developing field in research and industry. Students will have the opportunity to learn foundational elements of this field by designing, testing and implementing LEGO® robotic systems.

This year's challenge theme centers on a group of Vikings who travel by ship to distant lands to trade goods for gold and must distract a dragon by giving him food so they can safely move the gold to their ships. Participating teams will build a robot that can deliver food to the dragon, take the gold, and deliver the gold safely to the ship. The primary objective is to navigate the course from starting block to ship platform. Each team will develop a strategy based on their objectives and skill level.

For more information, contact Natasha Smith, associate professor of engineering, at nlsmith@usi.edu or 812-465-1087.