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Students and staff at Bluefield State College with a knack for building robots are to be applauded for their unique high-tech approach to learning.
In recent years, students at BSC have constructed robots that have participated in international competitions such as the Intelligent Ground Vehicle contest held each summer. Some of the prize money won during these contests has helped the college’s robot program afford more expensive robotic parts that are not readily available.
Bluefield State actually won a first-place award in the Intelligent Ground Vehicle contest four years ago. The college also received an Air Force contract a couple of years ago for the development of an autonomous robot that could sniff out bio-terror agents. That’s a pretty impressive track record for the Bluefield-based campus.
The robotics program at BSC first started building robots for the Intelligent Ground Vehicle contest in 1999, and students entered their first competition in 2000.
Now, the students at Bluefield State College are building battling robots. These robots won’t be fighting humans — as many popular science fiction movies like to portray — but will instead enter an arena to battle the creations of other robot enthusiasts.
In fact, the robotics laboratory at Dickason Hall already has robots in various stages of construction and of various sizes.
The robots even have their own names.
The student-created robots have been named "Killahurtz,” the smaller “Hank the Tank,” and the appropriately-named “Frankenstein.” The biggest BSC battle robot — Killahurtz — will weigh more than most people at 250 pounds. That’s a big robot.
The students have found parts for their creations in many unexpected places, including some wire and machine parts that were retrieved from dumpsters and junkyards.
Other parts like motorized wheelchair bases have been donated. And some stores have sold parts at a cost to the students as well.
It’s great to see students right here in Bluefield involved with cutting-edge technology. Building robots is not an easy task. But it could be the wave of the future.
The college, and its students, are to be commended for their unique skills and creativity in engineering and computer programming.
What these students are doing is helping to build the future. They are also bringing positive attention to their college, and our region, in the process.
Editorials
February 18, 2012
Battling Robots
BSC on the cutting edge of technology
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