December 02, 2005 —
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Mullet and its 15 colleagues searched and rescued at the California
Science Center before the eyes of museum visitors, press, and teachers.
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Mullet had a mission.
First, Mullet had to locate a green beanbag, one of eight spread all over a
400-square-foot
enclosure on the second floor of the California Science Center, using
its eye. Then, it had to range and approach the beanbag, using an
acoustical
sensor. Then, pick up the beanbag, using its gripper. Then, take the
beanbag to "safety" at the edge of the enclosure. And then go back
for
another. All without help from his student creators, watching anxiously
outside the enclosure, barred by the roles from intervening: once
Mullet had been switched on, Mullet was on its own.
Mullet was one of 16 robots prepared by students in the Viterbi
School's upper level introductory robots course,
CSCI 445, the "LEGO-kit based hands-on lab course" developed by Viterbi School professor Maja Mataric' that has
become legendary for its spectacular final project day.
For the Fall, 2005
installment of the classic, 48 students, divided into teams of two or three, had tuned and polished their basic materials: $550
LEGO kits and a standard brain chips.
As
museum visitors and reporters looked on, the 'bots went through their
paces under the watchful eyes of computer science specialist Stefan
Hrabar and head teaching assistant Christian Siagan.
How does tthe class of '05 measure up to the tradition? Here are some teams.and their creations.
Check the archive to see. some of their predecessors.
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Tracy Wilson, Peter Thompson | |
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Derek Zimmerman, Kristine Skinner, Shin Tae Hong |
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Kevin Jones, Asim Bhalerao, Tao Ma |
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Stacie Suzuki, Bernadette Aurelio, Grace Chern
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Joseph Haul, Mike Gangl
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Jason Giggles. Mehmet Gokhan Ozer. Kris Wiseley
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Game day.