Home > News & Analysis > Atmel University Program Kicks Off 2012 Robotics Contest

Analysis

Atmel University Program Kicks Off 2012 Robotics Contest

27th March 2012

ES Admin

0 0

Atmel Corporation today launched the 2012 Atmel Robotics Contest (ARC) through the Atmel University Program. University students 18 years or older in North America, South America and Europe are invited to develop a battery-powered 3D version of the Atmel robot ‘Mel’ using Arduino’s 4WD platform and Atmel components. Contestants can either work on their own or team up with other university students.

Six finalists will be invited to demonstrate their robots’ capabilities at the 2012 Atmel Technology Live (ATL) developer conference in San Jose, CA, September 11-13, 2012. At ATL, an Atmel committee of judges will select three winners based on the students’ ability to bring ‘Mel’ to life as an innovative robot that can perform specified tasks. Other judging criteria include:

- Uniqueness and elegance of design
- Robustness and fault tolerance of the controlling software
- How fast the robot can complete a defined task
- Accuracy of defined task performance

“The invention of Atmel AVR® microcontrollers was inspired by the university—and we continue to stay committed to the university community. Students in the math, sciences and engineering disciplines are the future of our engineering communities,” said Alf-Egil Bogen, Atmel’s chief marketing officer and inventor of AVR microcontrollers.

“The Atmel Robotics Contest is an opportunity for students to unleash their engineering talent by developing a novel Mel using Atmel microcontrollers and Arduino’s platform. ARC promises to showcase the many hidden talents in our university students along with their creative inventions and various uses of our microcontrollers.”