OHIO community invited to watch robots battle on April 13

Robots will be battling for supremacy this weekend at Ohio University in a competition in the Academic Research Center (ARC) Atrium.

All students, faculty and staff are invited to the competition that is similar to the BattleBots television program, with the battles taking place from 1- 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 13. The event is free and open to the public.

The radio-controlled robots, which each weigh one pound, will participate in 3-minute competitions, while members of the OHIO community cheer for them, as well as for the students who have designed and built the robots.

Lab and Student Experiences Coordinator for Mechanical Engineering in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology Kouree Chesser explained that OHIO students in the Mechanical Engineering Gateway Course designed the battling robots as part of a class project during the semester. Funding from an Experiential Learning Grant helped to make the fun competition and learning experience possible.

Students in the course meet weekly to learn about common engineering tools, make design choices, and gain basic understanding of implementing electronics in order to achieve their desired goals. In the case of this competition, those goals included designing robots with weapons that will be ready to battle it out in front of a crowd.

In addition, OHIO students in the BattleCats student organization will also bring their own robots to the competition, making the event even more fun.

The afternoon competition is part of the Russ College’s Mechanical Engineering Project Fair, which is free and open to the public. For more information, please see the Mechanical Engineering Project Fair website.