UTSA IEEE Robotics Team Places 4th

The UTSA IEEE Robotics Team traveled to Lubbock, Texas on April 17th, 2009 to compete in the annual IEEE Region 5 Robotics Competition where teams were challenged with designing an autonomous robot capable of detecting color and blindly maneuvering a course in search for specific boxes. The boxes on the course had to be found and moved to other locations according to their color and original location.

The Region 5 robotics Competition attracts some of the larger universities in and around Texas, such as The University of Texas at Austin, Air Force Academy, and the University of Houston. This year’s competition drew in more than twenty teams from eight different states

UTSA IEEE finished 3rd place in the first round of competition, having a score high enough to qualify the team for the final round. The team finished the final round and earned an overall place of 4th in the competition.

The fourth place finish is among one of the top finishes in the history of UTSA’s participation in the competition, next to the team’s second place finish last year. IEEE Student Chapter Chair, Kevin Messenhimer and Robotics Chair, Daniel Seiler agree that, “the competition has been an invaluable learning experience for everyone. Next year we hope to supersede this year’s accomplishments and extend the team’s knowledge to more students.”

The team would like to thank the College of Engineering, CPS Energy, Nerd: The Focus and Energy Beverage, and Southwest Research Institute for their financial support and sponsorship of the robotics team.

Congratulations to the 2009 IEEE Robotics team: Daniel Seiler, Terrence Leonard, and Chris Weldon for their commitment and outstanding representation of not only UTSA IEEE but also the College of Engineering and UTSA at large.