About a year ago, the students met with Professor Nickels to choose a design project for the 2000-2001 academic year.  They were intrigued by a similar project developed by engineering students last year that focused on robotic design but stopped short of construction.  "This year's group took it, built it, and added some improvements," Professor Nickels says.  "It knows its latitude and longitude coordinates.  They can tell it where to go and it figures out how to get there."

Soon after they began testing the robot, the students discovered that monster trucks aren't built for precision - even toy monster trucks.  So they decided to modify the control system by adding a compass and encoders on the rear wheels as the robotic versions of an odometer, Professor Nickels says.  That way, the robot can better tell where it is and how to plan the path it needs to travel, he says.

The students gave their creation a unique name - The MORON - which stands for Mobile Robotic Path Planner and incorporates the first two letters of the first two words and the "n" in "planner."  "We love acronyms," Professor Nickels says.

To learn more about Professor Nickels or his students, contact Susie P. Gonzalez at (210) 999-8406 or Susie.Gonzalez@Trinity.edu.