by Dallas Downing. The goal in combat robot competitions is to make a weaponized robot that can either destroy its competition or demonstrate enough control and aggression to make it a clear winner. In general, that typically means having a robot with a weapon attached, like a flipper, a spinner, or a flamethrower. Other approaches…
Category: Newsletter
Profiles in Presidency: Joe Spall and Alex Field
by Jonathan Spalten. With a new generation of leadership coming in to take the helm, we here at the Alumni Newsletter wanted to take a look back at previous leaders and their journey through the RoboJackets leadership ladder. We specifically chose to hold short interviews with the previous two Presidents, Alex Field and Joe Spall,…
RoboJackets Alumni Association
by Sarah Storer. RoboJackets has been growing in size and complexity over the last decade. Because of the flourishing membership we’ve also had success with alumni retention: “old people” who are interested in sticking around to help out even after they’ve graduated. This has been happening for a few years, and the alumni who have…
Elections
by Kyla Qi. Every year around late March, RoboJackets elects a new group of core officers. This is a great opportunity for passionate members to identify themselves and be identified by others, and for the rest of the organization to directly influence the path of RoboJackets for the next year. To be eligible for a…
Moving the Student Competition Center
by Dallas Downing. When RoboJackets was founded in 2000, it was a handful of students making combat robots in the basement of the Howey Physics Building. Today RoboJackets has grown to over 200 dues-paying members spread across five competitive teams in a 17,000 square-foot workspace shared with the rest of the Student Competition Center. However,…
A Look at URC: RoboJackets’s Newest Competition
by Jonathan Spalten. RoboJackets has a wide berth of competitions its members participate in. In an effort to broaden our horizons further, RoboNav has made the decision to participate in the University Rover Challenge. Simply stated, URC’s challenge is to “design and build the next generation of Mars rovers that will one day work alongside…
Spotlight on IT and Web Dev: MyRoboJackets and More
by Kyla Qi. RoboJackets might be mainly focused on robotics, but there’s a lot of administrative work that goes into running such a large organization. Dues payments must be recorded, access to shop space and code repositories must be managed, and attendance must be tracked. In recent years, some members of our IT team have…
The Computer Vision and Perception Techniques of the Autonomous Teams
by Evan Bretl. One of the most critical functions of any autonomous vehicle is the ability to perceive its environment. Much of a typical robotics technology stack (mapping, planning, motion control) would be impossible without adequately sensing and comprehending the surroundings. Given the fundamental nature of machine perception to a functioning autonomous robot, RoboJackets software…
RoboJackets, Inc.
by Jonathan Spalten. RoboJackets is an organization that participates in a wide range of robotics competitions, and as a result, has a tremendous need for financial resources. These resources are not only for building our robots (which are mostly funded by the Student Government Association through the student activity fee), but also for costs like…
FRC Kickoff 2021
by Kyla Qi. A core part of the RoboJackets mission is to support local K-12 robotics programs. Since 2008, a major part of the support we provide has been hosting the annual GeorgiaFIRST Kickoff for the FIRST Robotics’ Competition (FRC). For the uninitiated, FRC is a high school level international robotics competition where students design,…