A soccer-playing robot named after a star Brazilian striker won the student vote at this semester’s RoboShow.
Robotinho – named in honor of Adson Alves “Tinho” da Silva – took home top honors at the annual event, where teams of robotics students collaborate on semester-long projects that then strut – or strike – their stuff for student voters.
Built and designed by seniors Zachary Ballard, Abdul Rafiqi, and Devante Saenger, Robotinho had his own soccer net and ball set up at the December 7 show in Roger Bacon Hall.
“All five student teams worked really hard this semester,” said Ting Liu, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science and organizer of the event. “They had to build and program everything from scratch, practicing their technical skills to solve actual problems and bring their robots to life.”
And if soccer was not your style, there were robots that served cheese, danced to Christmas tunes, found a Pokemon, and followed you around like a bodyguard.
Spectrum News stopped by to check out the action.
