Climb On

I teach a junior-level engineering class on the subject of Engineering Design with another professor, Dr. N., who is a mechanical engineer (I am an electrical engineer). Still reading? Every semester we dream up a gizmo, a thingy, or a widget that the students have to design. This semester it was a rope-climbing robot.

The robot had to start at the base of an eight-foot-long rope and climb to the top. When it encountered the "ceiling" it was to stop on its own and, if applicable, retract itself to within one foot of the ceiling. They could not use wheels to climb, they had to use a grasping motion like a climber. The video shows our testing and some spontaneous racing that occurred on test day! Their designs were great and I must say that I'm proud of them!