Schools
Building a Better R2-D2: Oakton Community College Takes 2nd Place in NASA Robot Contest
Wel, maybe not R2-D2, but the 13-member team built a machine designed to move and collect Martian dirt.
Des Plaines, IL—A 13-member team from Oakton Community College took second place in NASA's Robotic Mining Competition last month, according to a school press release.
Oakton Robotics was one of two community college teams in the competition, which had 43 groups from four-year U.S. universities designing and building a remote-controlled mining robots that could work on the surface of Mars. The Oakton team was in the top three in four of the competition's categories, earning second place for social media and engagement and its systems engineering paper.
“I cannot say enough how proud I am of our team," stated team leader Karolina Klimont, of Des Plaines, in the release. "Even if we had not won anything, I still would be proud of our positive attitude throughout the competition.”
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The timed competition, which ran from May 16 to 20, consisted of the robots moving across simulating Martian terrain to excavate the most simulated alien dirt, called regolith.
“It was a very challenging and daunting contest," said faculty adviser Angelo Gero. "The team worked closely together, facing numerous hardships and adversity.”
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“Everything that could go wrong down in Florida did, and under tremendous pressure, everyone worked harmoniously together, resulting in a NASA-approved robot,” said team member Lynette Sugatan, who is from Niles.
Oakton Robotics competed in the contest last year and placed eighth, receiving an honorable mention for most improved systems engineering paper.
Along with Kilmont and Sugatan, this year's team consisted of the following students:
- Lachlan Chen, Skokie
- Carlos Cruz, Morton Grove
- Michael Habisohn, Park Ridge
- William Kann, Park Ridge
- Mahavish Mahmood, Norridge
- Chris Moirano, Chicago
- Pedro Morales, Niles
- Mohankumar Vegesna, Niles
- Matthew Wasiewicz, Park Ridge
- Shawn Zachariah, Des Plaines
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