News

Actions

Future engineers build Frisbee-tossing robots

Posted at 5:34 PM, Jan 05, 2013
and last updated 2013-01-05 22:24:54-05

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah - Dozens of students from across Utah put their minds together to prepare for a major robot competition coming up in March.

22 teams of students were given a kit of parts and now have six weeks to build a contraption that can throw Frisbee at targets.

They say the 6-week timeline is barely long enough to finish the job, but they take it pretty seriously because it provides good practice for future careers.

"We are pretty much running a business here. We have people who do money, we have people who do media, we have a Facebook page. We've got guys who design it on the computer, we've got guys who program it. We've got people who are hands-on building it. So if you want to do it there's a spot on every team for everyone," said Seth Houston.

Professional engineers who are helping the kids say they have no doubt one of them could invent the next big thing. But for right now, they're just focused on building the best Frisbee-throwing robot.

Teams spent Saturday learning about robot construction and the competition. They'll be back in March to see who created the best Frisbee-tossing mechanism.