WEBVTT 00:10.080 --> 00:13.580 - So, Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition, or IGVC, 00:13.580 --> 00:16.500 is the world's largest international university 00:16.500 --> 00:18.080 ground robotics competition. 00:18.080 --> 00:20.390 So it's a fully autonomous competition, 00:20.390 --> 00:22.350 which means once the students hit a button, 00:22.350 --> 00:24.250 the robot does all the rest. 00:24.250 --> 00:26.500 So we have a couple different parts to it: 00:26.500 --> 00:28.330 we have the ground part, 00:28.330 --> 00:29.770 which is called the auto-nav, 00:29.770 --> 00:32.370 where first a vehicle must navigate around a course 00:32.370 --> 00:34.320 much like a human driver does a road. 00:34.320 --> 00:37.210 Then it goes to a GPS waypoint navigation point, 00:37.210 --> 00:38.730 and back to a road-type course. 00:38.730 --> 00:41.140 It's a culmination senior design project 00:41.140 --> 00:44.170 for undergrads, graduate students, PhD students, 00:44.170 --> 00:45.610 where you're really taking everything 00:45.610 --> 00:46.760 that you learned in class 00:46.760 --> 00:48.390 and now putting it to use in the real world. 00:48.390 --> 00:50.220 All the theories, all the math, 00:50.220 --> 00:52.180 now you're actually building a platform, 00:52.180 --> 00:53.920 you're developing a software, 00:53.920 --> 00:55.470 you're doing system integration, 00:55.470 --> 00:57.530 and then you're testing it in a real-world application 00:57.530 --> 00:58.363 here on the field. 00:58.363 --> 01:00.260 - I am electrical engineering technology 01:00.260 --> 01:03.310 and engineering management major at Bluefield State. 01:03.310 --> 01:06.770 I have been a part of the robotics team for three years. 01:06.770 --> 01:09.040 Well, I'm actually the electrical lead for the team, 01:09.040 --> 01:11.300 so I'm in charge of the electrical systems 01:11.300 --> 01:13.540 and making sure that my team gets everything 01:13.540 --> 01:16.450 on the electrical side done and ready maintained. 01:16.450 --> 01:19.170 - So I worked on the algorithm and division code. 01:20.085 --> 01:20.918 It's the first time working 01:20.918 --> 01:23.130 on like a multi-disciplinary project, 01:23.130 --> 01:25.190 so working with people outside my major. 01:25.190 --> 01:27.090 - It's actually a wide variety of students, 01:27.090 --> 01:29.400 because it's not only like the computer science, 01:29.400 --> 01:30.630 or the electrical engineers, 01:30.630 --> 01:32.510 but you have the mechanical engineers. 01:32.510 --> 01:35.070 Sometimes on the teams you even have business majors 01:35.070 --> 01:37.290 that may go out and get sponsorship, 01:37.290 --> 01:40.960 and sometimes you might have biology students 01:40.960 --> 01:44.350 'cause some of 'em mimic animals in the way they move. 01:44.350 --> 01:45.820 - Computer science, everything runs on the computer, 01:45.820 --> 01:47.260 it's like all simulated most of the time. 01:47.260 --> 01:49.720 Everything works most of the time 01:49.720 --> 01:51.780 with working with actual robots, 01:51.780 --> 01:54.510 parts go down, electronics don't work properly, 01:54.510 --> 01:57.000 and it's interesting adjusting code 01:57.000 --> 01:59.710 to look for real-world situations. 01:59.710 --> 02:01.540 - We're trying to reinvigorate students 02:01.540 --> 02:03.330 to be involved in science, technology, 02:03.330 --> 02:04.410 engineering, and math, 02:04.410 --> 02:06.640 and part of TARDEC's portfolio is not just 02:06.640 --> 02:08.380 supporting at the university level, 02:08.380 --> 02:10.460 but we also support at the high school level 02:10.460 --> 02:12.780 with first robotics and different events 02:12.780 --> 02:14.860 for the younger kids like Robofest. 02:14.860 --> 02:17.800 So we want to try to get involved, guys, girls, 02:17.800 --> 02:19.810 everybody in engineering, early on, 02:19.810 --> 02:21.700 get involved with science and math, 02:21.700 --> 02:23.820 and think of science and math people 02:23.820 --> 02:25.570 as athletes and rock stars, too. 02:25.570 --> 02:28.920 Just not only football players or soccer players. 02:28.920 --> 02:30.340 - So far this year, we're doing pretty well 02:30.340 --> 02:31.540 in the navigation course. 02:31.540 --> 02:33.400 Right now we are ahead. 02:33.400 --> 02:35.270 We are trying to make it to the full course 02:35.270 --> 02:36.410 so that by the end of the day, 02:36.410 --> 02:38.340 we have made it to the third waypoint. 02:38.340 --> 02:40.550 As of yesterday, we have had a few issues 02:40.550 --> 02:42.640 with the line detection. 02:42.640 --> 02:45.680 But we're thinking that we'll get those issues fixed. 02:45.680 --> 02:48.149 - For me personally, working with other people, 02:48.149 --> 02:48.982 like I said before, 02:48.982 --> 02:51.540 and also how hard it is to actually get a robot 02:51.540 --> 02:54.040 to do what you think is easy for a human to do, 02:54.040 --> 02:55.600 like to see a white line. 02:55.600 --> 02:57.540 Easy, a human can see a white line, distinguish it. 02:57.540 --> 02:58.373 But there's a bunch of different 02:58.373 --> 02:59.287 environmental considerations. 02:59.287 --> 03:00.430 - [Man In Green Shirt] I think it's a great thing. 03:00.430 --> 03:04.390 And the robotics community in general is a small community. 03:04.390 --> 03:07.560 So all the time I go off and see people 03:07.560 --> 03:10.450 that were started here, even when I was an employee, 03:10.450 --> 03:12.480 and then now started their own company. 03:12.480 --> 03:15.840 People work hard on this all year long to make this happen, 03:15.840 --> 03:19.473 and it's a great, great relationship for everybody.