Window-Washing Robots to Battle It Out at Design Contest Finals

While you’re at the Congress in Boston, be sure not to miss the ASME Student Design Competition. During this year’s contest, 13 student teams will demonstrate the window-washing robots that brought them top honors in their respective regional contests last spring.

The competition will take place on Sunday, Nov. 2, from 2–4 p.m. in Constitution Ballrooms A and B on the second floor of the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition runs from Oct. 31–Nov. 6 at the hotel and the adjacent John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. Major funding for the 2008 Student Design Competition was provided by the Boeing Co. and door and window manufacturer Pella Corp.

Students from more than 100 colleges and universities took part in the 13 ASME regional design competitions, which were held from March through May. For the 2008 contest, students designed and built battery-powered robots that had to be able to remove ink from a residential double-paned window. Besides being able to travel over the glass surface and remove ink debris, once on the glass, the robots had to be able to move back and forth between two window panes without assistance.

The robot prototypes, called Winrobos, must move across the window while carrying 50 millimeters of water, which cannot spill or leak from the machine’s containment system. In addition, each prototype must include a safety cord that will secure the device to the window in the event of a malfunction.

The 13 universities vying for the top prize at the competition finals in Boston are: Carnegie Mellon University, Colorado State University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, LeTourneau University, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, Seattle University, Tennessee Technological University, University of Detroit-Mercy, University of Nevada-Reno, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, University of South Dakota, and Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Members of the winning team will receive $3,000, plus an additional $1,000 that will go to their ASME student section. The second-place team will win $1,000, plus another $500 for its student section, while the team finishing third will be awarded $500, plus $250 for its student section.

For more information on the Winrobo competition, visit www.asme.org/Events/Contests/DesignContest/
2008_Student_Design.cfm.

To find out more about the other events at the 2008 Congress in Boston, visit www.asmeconferences.org/congress08.

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