Iowa State operated its way to a grand prize in the Robotic Manipulator competition in Louisville, Ky. this month.

The robot built by the ISU student chapter of the National Association of Industrial Technology won the association’s national competition, held from Oct. 20 to Oct. 23.

“It was like NASCAR after we won, with all the pictures being taken,” said Aaron Pierson, senior in industrial technology, who operated the robot.

The $600 robot was made of an assortment of objects, including remote control car pieces for the tracks and empty cigarette boxes to conceal the wires.

It was simple and speedy, Pierson said, which is why it won.

The robot was cheap in comparison to some of the other robots from the 11 participating universities, which cost anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000, said John Brincks, junior in industrial technology.

“When you are up against competition like that, you start to doubt yourself,” Pierson said.

However, the ISU robot had some distinct advantages, Pierson said. The robots rotating tank-like tracks were able to easily turn in any direction, making it superior to four-wheeled robots that had to execute multiple-point turns around corners, Pierson said. The ISU robot’s real-time camera was also better than some of the Web-based cameras that had delays, Pierson said.

Iowa State participated in the non-vision robot category, where students couldn’t see the robot as it made its way through the course. Pierson had to control the robot using a camera mounted on its spoiler.

“If you have good camera location, it’s just like playing a video game,” Brincks said.

The teams ran two timed trials through a course marked by masking tape and obstacles like chairs. At the end of the course, the robot had to pick up an unopened soda can and then go back through the course without damaging the can, Pierson said.

The ISU robot was the fastest at its second trial of 1 minute, 14 seconds. The first trial was 1 minute, 36 seconds.

The University of Purdue had the next fastest time at 2 minutes, 26 seconds, Brincks said.

“It wasn’t even a competition; Aaron just blew them out of the water,” Brincks said.

The speed category was only one part of the entire competition, Pierson said.

A presentation and a poster also counted toward a team total, and the team with the most points in all three categories won the grand prize.

The ISU team consisted of Pierson; Brincks; Mark Holzman, senior in industrial technology; Kristen Watters, senior in industrial technology; and Kyle Scott, junior in industrial technology.

Iowa State also placed both first and second in the Industrial Technology/IQ competition. Scott received first place in the competition, which involved a round of questions, and Pierson received second place.

The prizes included $500 for the grand prize, $200 for the non-vision category, textbooks, several engineering software programs and two seats to a four-and-a-half-day class put on by Rixan Robotics.

The student chapter of NAIT at Iowa State was founded in fall 2002. The chapter has participated in three competitions, receiving first in 2002 and second in 2003.

“The bar was set pretty high,” said Watters, senior in industrial technology. “Bringing the trophy back home was nice.”