COD Students Participate in NASA Robotic Mining Competition

GLEN ELLYN, Ill., June 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- College of DuPage was one of only two community colleges invited to participate in the 2015 NASA Robotic Mining Competition held at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Click here to view photos of the team preparing the robot for the competition. Click here to view an early test video of the team's robot.

Earlier this year, the team was awarded Best Design at the Jerry Sanders Creative Design Competition.

"Competitions like this one are a fantastic opportunity for our students to get unmatched hands-on experience that mimics a real-life design-build project," said Engineering Club advisor and COD Engineering instructor Scott Banjavcic. "The teamwork, time management and real world skills gained by the students during this process are incredible and we are proud of their performance at the competition. We look forward to see what they can accomplish in the future."

Members of the Engineering Club who participated in this year's NASA competition included team co-captains Tom Beardsley, Wheaton, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering and John Volmer, Downers Grove, Manufacturing Engineering Technology, as well as Christian Brown, Wheaton, Mechanical Engineering; Maxwel Chichon, Bloomingdale, Industrial Engineering; Sam Ciucci, Woodridge, Computer Science; Paul Haynes, Lombard, Electrical Engineering; Nathan Hinz, Westmont, Mechanical Engineering; Jenny Kaeppel, Naperville, Civil Engineering; Edie Kocher-Cowan, Lisle, Mechanical Engineering; Laura Kristie, Westchester, Computer Science, Westchester; Matthew Rapnikas, Naperville, Mechanical Engineering; Donquis Spalding, Brandon, Mississippi, Welding/Manufacturing; Alec Steinkraus, Plainfield, Computer Science; Scott Walters, Naperville, Engineering; and Devon Weaver, Naperville, Mechanical Engineering.

This year's NASA Robotic Mining Competition included competitors from 36 schools across the U.S. Geared toward undergraduate and graduate student teams, the competition required teams to design and build a mining robot that could navigate a simulated Martian terrain, excavate as much simulated Martian regolith and gravel as possible, and deposit the material into a collection bin within 10 minutes. Scoring included a number of factors such as autonomy, communications, dust tolerance and projection, power requirements, and vehicle mass. In addition, teams were required to submit an in-depth systems engineering report and a written description of engineering-related outreach undertaken by students.

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Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150617/223838

SOURCE College of DuPage