Robofest Newsletter, 4-23-03 Contents ====================================== 1. Invitation to Robofest 2003 2. Volunteers wanted for Detroit site ====================================== (1) Robofest was started at Lawrence Tech in 2000, and the number of participants continues to grow each year. This year there are three Robofest sites: - Lawrence Tech Site in Southfield Michigan: 67 teams and 251 students - CIS-DW site in Detroit: 12 teams and 53 students - New Hampshire site (May 4): 13 teams and 26 students There will be a new award category "Robofest National Championship" which will be determined by the best average completion time of all the robot missions. Please note that Robofest at LTU site is not only for middle and high school students but also college students. (72%-Middle School, 16% High School, 12% College Student teams) This year 7 LTU laptop robots are introduced to the public. This year's K-12 Robofest mission requires robots to simulate the repair of the reactor containment structure in a nuclear power plant. The first robot drops items representing "radioactive shielding" into a containment structure. The second robot pushes a simulated "concrete barricade" up to the containment structure to shut off possible radioactivity from the reactor. A new twist in the 2003 competition is that one of the game rules will be unknown by the participants until the day of competition. A special award goes to the team that solves the whole problem for the first time. For more details about Robofest, please go to www.robofest.net. Robofest admission is free and everyone is welcome. The opening ceremony is planned to begin at 10 a.m. at the gym and Collegiate competition and exhibition will follow at LTU. If you miss the morning contest, please plan to come to the exciting semi and final matches around 3:00pm at LTU. Detroit site is planned to be finished before 1:00pm. After all the competitions, it is time for a festival for all students who have been working so hard for 4 month since this January. There will be a Hip Hop (robot) dance demonstration at LTU before the award ceremony performed by Gravity Dance Company, which is Metro Detroit's leading jazz and hip hop dance company. Gravity dancers have been featured in commercials, music videos, television and industrials. Please plan to come to this exciting event on this Saturday, springtime at the Field House or at the Dexter-Elmhurst Family and Community Center in Detroit. (2) We need Robofest volunteers for the Dexter-Elmhurst Family and Community Center in Detroit. If you are interested in helping with this event, please go to http://www.robofest.net/2003/cis-dw03.htm and click on CIS-DW volunteer site to sign up. Many thanks for your wonderful help! -------- If you wish to be removed from this email list, please reply with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. Or visit http://ltu164.ltu.edu/rf02mcs/MLSubscribe.jsp and enter your email address and select unsubscribe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Math and Computer Science Department/Robotics Lab Chan-Jin Chung, RoboFest organizer, Assistant Professor Lawrence Tech. University 21000 W. Ten Mile, Southfield MI 48075 CHUNG@ltu.edu qbx6.ltu.edu/chung www.robofest.net robofest@yahoo.com (248)204-3504 Fax: (248)204-3518 Robotics Lab (248)204-3815