For the 14th annual Autonomous Snowplow Competition, organizers had to make snow, then shovel it onto the Dunwoody College of Technology parking lot so the robots could attempt to plow it away.
It’s never easy to do what Kevin Nguyen, Kyle Yotter and other members of Dunwoody Robotic Snowplow Club did: build a device that could clear snow. This winter, the task was made more difficult by the almost complete lack of snow.
For the 14th annual Autonomous Snowplow Competition, organizers had to make snow, then shovel it onto the Dunwoody College of Technology parking lot so the robots could attempt to plow it away.
“Those students have built autonomous snowplows designed so that when it snows, you can literally open up your garage, hit a button and it will go out and plow your driveway, sidewalk or whatever you want,” said E.J. Daigle, dean of robotics and manufacturing.
More than 80 students from the Upper Midwest took part in the competition, which was hosted by the Institute of Navigation. It featured a T-shaped field designed to simulate a sidewalk that intersects a driveway. The robots start in what would be the garage. The robots have to plow as much snow as they can while avoiding obstacles — bright orange cones that represent mailboxes, parking meters or even a grandma, Daigle said. Snow removed is measured and penalties are deducted for hitting obstacles.
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