University of Utah freshmen students gathered for their end of the semester competition “Quick Launch” in the Union Ballroom, yesterday (Dec. 4, 2014). Talk about bulls-eye after bulls-eye! These top six teams were hard to beat!
Teams built mechanical robots powered by potential energy (cans of spam), using SolidWorks, hand tools and 3-D printers. Robots were equipped with projectile launchers to throw a “baseball” to a target where, sticking to the bull’s eye receives maximum points.
Mechanical engineering freshman, Nathan Baum, Apollo 36 team member said, “The strategy of our team was to find the sweet spot for accuracy and consistency by building three separate robots. We learned from each robot and then combined the best of each for the final project.”
In addition to bragging rights, the winning top three of the 44 teams have to option not to take the final.
Apollo 36 Winning Team Members:
Nathan Baum, Trevor Miller, Ben Rotondo, Alex Kinney
The Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah is committed to providing students with broad-based, rigorous and progressive education. By combining state-of-the-art facilities with renowned faculty, the department provides an education that gives students the necessary skills to become the next generation of innovators.