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Undergrad-built Robots Play "Operation"

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you're-the-doctor-having-so-much-fun dept.

jnakane writes "UBC Engineering Physics students pit prototype operation robots against each other for prizes and bragging rights in the 7th Annual Robot Competition. Offering solutions to handle delicate body parts on a 6-foot long version of the playing surface resembling the board game "Operation" (including the "shock" buzzer), the second-year students designed and built autonomous surgical robots to remove body organs reliably and quickly (well, most of the time). You can also see video footage."

4 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. So? by Sunburnt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Everyone knows the game is only fun when played as "strip Operation" with a group of drunk college students. Who the hell wants to see robots naked?

    (...he says, kicking a nearby Sorayama book under the couch.)

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  2. Figures... by moehoward · · Score: 4, Funny


    A bunch of geeks build a robot to "play doctor" instead of doing it themselves. When will it end?

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  3. 6 weeks ! by c_fel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I teach in an engineering school and I must say that 6 weeks to design, build and program that kind of robot is really short. They must be very, very good because this is a great challenge.

    Congratulations to all of you guys ! :-)

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  4. Amazing what kids are doing these days by jparp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I happened to be visiting UBC when this was going on, and my roommate in the residence had a robot in the competition... so I went to go check it out.

    Of course robotics engineering is not as difficult as it used to be, with better COTS sensors, affordable fab tools, an expanding open source robotics community, and of course Moore's Law...

    Regardless, it was really incredible to see what _second_ year students are capable of these days. Also, lots of credit should go to the ambitious profs who have been organizing the course for the past few years.