Israeli, Chinese, and Portuguese teams capture major robotics awards in Trinity’s 16th Annual Fire Fighting Home Robot Competition
A team from Misgav High School in Israel was the overall winner in Trinity’s 16th Annual Fire Fighting Home Robot Competition, capping a two-day event in which devices armed with wires, balloons, squirt guns, and fans navigated mazes in search of burning candles to extinguish.
The winning Israeli team, named Blastoise, was just one of several from that country to prevail in the competition, which altogether featured entries from five countries, thirteen states, and communities across Connecticut. Trinity did not get shut out of its own contest, with Firefly finishing third in the senior division in which kits were allowed.
This marked the first year that a separate event—RoboWaiter—was held on Saturday. Co-sponsored by the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, the competition in Oosting Gymnasium required an autonomous computer-controlled robot to find its way around a model of a kitchen. The robot had to locate and carry a plate of food from a refrigerator to a table where two disabled people, as represented by dolls, were sitting. Finishing first in the RoboWaiter competition was a team from Grand Valley State University in Michigan, followed by a team from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and one from Ort Givat Ram Jerusalem.
The major sponsor of the two-day event was Versa Products, Inc. of New Jersey, which produces directional control valves. The company’s president and CEO is Jan Larsson, a 1977 Trinity graduate. Her company provided a Versa Valves Challenge Award to recognize the entry that showed the greatest ingenuity and creativity using a Versa Valve, which the company made available free of charge. Two robots from George School won the Versa Valves Challenge. Other sponsors included Grandar China, the International Association of Arson Investigators, SolidWorks, Circuit Cellar, Mind Sensors, Scientific American, and Parallax, Inc.
Sustainability Web pages posted for public viewing
Trinity has posted its environmental sustainability pages on the Trinity College Web site, marking the culmination of months of work by the College’s 17-member Campus Sustainability Task Force, which consists of administrators, faculty, staff members, students and representatives of Chartwells dining service.
The new Web pages cover such topics as carpooling, reducing the school’s carbon footprint, recycling, energy usage, green buildings, the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment—which President James F. Jones, Jr., signed in 2007—environment-related curriculum, a mini-grant program, and news and events.
The sustainability Web pages—which can be accessed by going to www.trincoll.edu, clicking on “Trinity A-Z” and then clicking on “Sustainability”—is a central place to go to learn what Trinity is doing to become an environmentally friendly and conscientious campus.
President Jones has joined more than 600 presidents of higher education institutions in signing the Climate Commitment, agreeing to take concrete steps to achieve climate neutrality, establish a sustainability committee, inventory the College’s greenhouse gases, and develop a college-wide Climate Action Plan.
Already, Trinity has adopted green standards for campus buildings, required Energy Start certification for products purchased by the College, encouraged the use of public transportation, leased ZipCars for use by the campus community, and approved mini-grants for students who have viable ideas for reducing energy consumption.
