First-Year Electrical & Computer Engineering Students Design Robotics Skills in "RobOlympics" Competition
Tuesday, December 02, 2025
First-year electrical and computer engineering students competed in the "RobOlympics", designing and programming robots in small teams, at the end of fall quarter.
First-year electrical and computer engineering students built their programming muscles in ECE 160: Engineering Practice, as they spent the last several weeks of Rose-Hulman’s fall quarter "training" for the competition of a lifetime — the "RobOlympics" — programming and testing autonomous and remote-controlled Arduino robots.
As the Kahn Room in the Mussallem Union thrummed with energy and music, the students represented their team against top STEM students on November 13, competing for podium placements in each of four Olympics- themed events:
• Long Jump: After completing a 36-inch runway, the robot “jumped” into a landing box, with points awarded based on the accuracy of each jump within six landing zones.
• Shot Put: After spinning three times, the robot released a golf ball toward a target area, with points awarded for length and accuracy from the release point.
• Hurdles: Robots used line sensors to complete one lap around the track within 60 seconds, “jumping” (by illuminating two LED signals) to clear 10 hurdles encountered along the way.
• Soccer: Robots scored as many goals as possible within 60 seconds after picking up balls that were scattered throughout the playing field.
In addition to showcasing what students learned in their first quarter on campus, the event gave students the chance to meet department faculty in an exciting setting.
"It lets you dip your toe into the ECE department," said Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Daniel Chang, PhD. "It's for them to see what the major is about and hopefully identify at least one or two things they really like."
The RobOlympics design challenge competition is so enthralling that older students and students from other majors couldn't help but watch the action.
"What we're hoping they (ECE 160 students) take away are both the technical skills — including programming, breadboarding, wiring, and circuits — and also a team aspect," Chang said. "The other thing is just have some fun."
Some teams saw the fun as personal missions, giving their robots unique personalities. Computer engineering majors Audrey Muhlenkamp and Alex Vilis, along with electrical engineering major Manas Paranjape, named their robot "Grawlix", after the characters in cartoons used to represent foul language in dialogue. The team programmed Grawlix to do a little shimmy as it prepared for the long jump event.
"We're here to have the most spirit and whimsy," said Muhlenkamp. "Compared to other classes, there's more creativity involved."
The team's humor, which included custom posters for their robot, extended to their group meetings as well.
"We would just have so much fun," said Vilis. "We'd bring a song to each meeting, and that's how we'd start it off."
Other teams also added their own flair to the competition. Electrical engineering major Donovan Mathis and computer engineering majors Makuach Kuol and Braeden Winston came dressed to impress, dubbing themselves Team Corporate.
"We're looking to win it, and we're looking to win it in style," Kuol grinned. "Customizing the robot has been the most fun experience."
The team name was an homage to their robot, “The Boss”, which displayed in LED lights on the robot's surface.
"We're all just working under him and having fun," said Mathis.
Team Corporate's strategy saw a positive return on investment, earning them the Team Spirit Award, as well as bronze medals in both the long jump and soccer events.
Other award-winning teams included:
Overall Winners: Pterromites - Nicholas App, Drake Bellessa, and Kiran Warrier
Team Spirit Award: Corporate - Makuach Kuol, Donovan Mathis, and Braeden Winston
Shotput:
Gold: The Capacitor Crew - Leif Kregenow, Jonah Rettig, and Landon Smith
Silver: Robocop - Nicholas Loveland, Shawn Riedling, and Matthew Rudolph
Bronze: Leftovers - James Aragon, Austin Bertino, and Logan Lee
Long Jump:
Gold: Pterromites - Nicholas App, Drake Bellessa, and Kiran Warrier
Silver: Mystery Van - Aiman Abdulraheem, Fred Franzwa, Luke Mowery, and John Tsoukalis
Bronze: Corporate - Makuach Kuol, Donovan Mathis, and Braeden Winston
Soccer:
Gold: Pterromites - Nicholas App, Drake Bellessa, and Kiran Warrier
Silver: Risk - Kevin Ma, Silas Rowden, and Riley Yost
Bronze: Corporate - Makuach Kuol, Donovan Mathis, and Braeden Winston
Hurdles:
Gold: TTE - Eric Heflinger, Timothy Konieczny, Trent Payer
Silver: Apophis - Dustin Lu, Josh Max, and Luke Ozenne
Bronze: Epsilon Naught - John Hershberger, Luc Kolczak, and Jacob Whitney
As the Kahn Room in the Mussallem Union thrummed with energy and music, the students represented their team against top STEM students on November 13, competing for podium placements in each of four Olympics- themed events:
• Long Jump: After completing a 36-inch runway, the robot “jumped” into a landing box, with points awarded based on the accuracy of each jump within six landing zones.
• Shot Put: After spinning three times, the robot released a golf ball toward a target area, with points awarded for length and accuracy from the release point.
• Hurdles: Robots used line sensors to complete one lap around the track within 60 seconds, “jumping” (by illuminating two LED signals) to clear 10 hurdles encountered along the way.
• Soccer: Robots scored as many goals as possible within 60 seconds after picking up balls that were scattered throughout the playing field.
In addition to showcasing what students learned in their first quarter on campus, the event gave students the chance to meet department faculty in an exciting setting.
"It lets you dip your toe into the ECE department," said Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Daniel Chang, PhD. "It's for them to see what the major is about and hopefully identify at least one or two things they really like."
The RobOlympics design challenge competition is so enthralling that older students and students from other majors couldn't help but watch the action.
"What we're hoping they (ECE 160 students) take away are both the technical skills — including programming, breadboarding, wiring, and circuits — and also a team aspect," Chang said. "The other thing is just have some fun."
Some teams saw the fun as personal missions, giving their robots unique personalities. Computer engineering majors Audrey Muhlenkamp and Alex Vilis, along with electrical engineering major Manas Paranjape, named their robot "Grawlix", after the characters in cartoons used to represent foul language in dialogue. The team programmed Grawlix to do a little shimmy as it prepared for the long jump event.
"We're here to have the most spirit and whimsy," said Muhlenkamp. "Compared to other classes, there's more creativity involved."
The team's humor, which included custom posters for their robot, extended to their group meetings as well.
"We would just have so much fun," said Vilis. "We'd bring a song to each meeting, and that's how we'd start it off."
Other teams also added their own flair to the competition. Electrical engineering major Donovan Mathis and computer engineering majors Makuach Kuol and Braeden Winston came dressed to impress, dubbing themselves Team Corporate.
"We're looking to win it, and we're looking to win it in style," Kuol grinned. "Customizing the robot has been the most fun experience."
The team name was an homage to their robot, “The Boss”, which displayed in LED lights on the robot's surface.
"We're all just working under him and having fun," said Mathis.
Team Corporate's strategy saw a positive return on investment, earning them the Team Spirit Award, as well as bronze medals in both the long jump and soccer events.
Other award-winning teams included:
Overall Winners: Pterromites - Nicholas App, Drake Bellessa, and Kiran Warrier
Team Spirit Award: Corporate - Makuach Kuol, Donovan Mathis, and Braeden Winston
Shotput:
Gold: The Capacitor Crew - Leif Kregenow, Jonah Rettig, and Landon Smith
Silver: Robocop - Nicholas Loveland, Shawn Riedling, and Matthew Rudolph
Bronze: Leftovers - James Aragon, Austin Bertino, and Logan Lee
Long Jump:
Gold: Pterromites - Nicholas App, Drake Bellessa, and Kiran Warrier
Silver: Mystery Van - Aiman Abdulraheem, Fred Franzwa, Luke Mowery, and John Tsoukalis
Bronze: Corporate - Makuach Kuol, Donovan Mathis, and Braeden Winston
Soccer:
Gold: Pterromites - Nicholas App, Drake Bellessa, and Kiran Warrier
Silver: Risk - Kevin Ma, Silas Rowden, and Riley Yost
Bronze: Corporate - Makuach Kuol, Donovan Mathis, and Braeden Winston
Hurdles:
Gold: TTE - Eric Heflinger, Timothy Konieczny, Trent Payer
Silver: Apophis - Dustin Lu, Josh Max, and Luke Ozenne
Bronze: Epsilon Naught - John Hershberger, Luc Kolczak, and Jacob Whitney