Fire-Fighting Robot
The Trinity College Home Fire-Fighting Robot Contest is the largest public robot competition in the world, with more than 125 robots registered. Cedarville students designed, built, and programmed a robot that would autonomously navigate a model four-room house, find a fire (usually a burning candle located randomly in one of the four rooms), and extinguish the fire. The team earns points by completing the task, doing it in the shortest elapsed time, and overcoming a variety of obstacles, such as "clutter" on the floor or "furniture" in a room.
Following a very successful 5th place finish in 2001, the 2003 team streamlined the chassis and revised much of the software and firmware. Extensive testing at Cedarville as well as thorough preparation elevated expectations at competition. The team raised their challenge by entering the Senior division, open to professionals in the market place as well as college students. Of more than 50 teams that entered, Cedarville came in a very close 2nd place behind a professional team from Israel. This means that Cedarville students were the best university team!