青年涩导航 Today will be following a group of six Golden Flashes for the 2024-25 academic year chronicling their efforts and successes during the fall and spring semesters. The group of students are at various places in their 青年涩导航 academic careers and will share their experiences throughout the year as they take part in our distinctive programs, research and global experiences.
When meeting with with junior mechatronics engineering technology student Jude Carver a few weeks ago his combat robot, named 鈥淕ondola鈥� still lived only in models on his laptop鈥檚 computer-aided design program.
The 鈥榖ot is named 鈥淕ondola鈥� because its shape is modeled after the long, low railway cargo cars of the same name. 鈥溾€楪ondola鈥� is coming along nicely,鈥� Carver said. 鈥淚 have the [design for] the assembly where the wheel motors are and the body. It鈥檚 all in the [CAD] assembly file. And I鈥檓 designing the weapon, which will be a vertical spinner.鈥�
The weapon has presented him with design challenges. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to make sure it鈥檚 not too big so it doesn鈥檛 run into the 鈥榖ot, but make sure it鈥檚 big enough to have an effect,鈥� Carver said.
With the KSU Combat Robotics Tournament on March 22 fast approaching, Carver has to create the 鈥榖ot鈥檚 plastic parts on a 3D printer and then make a 鈥渟hopping list鈥� to collect all the non-plastic parts, motors and controllers he will need to assemble Gondola before the competition. The tournament will be held from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Timken Atrium of the Aeronautics and Engineering Building.
Students and faculty in 青年涩导航鈥檚 College of Aeronautics and Engineering look forward to these robot battles each year. In the tournament-style competition student members of the KSU Combat Robotics team will showcase their engineering skills and battle it out with their custom-built, three-pound plastic robots.
Before the Battle
Trent True is a 青年涩导航 alumnus who is a lecturer and Florida Engineering Foundation professor in 青年涩导航鈥檚 College of Aeronautics and Engineering. He鈥檚 also the faculty advisor for the student organization. He detailed the steps tournament competitors needed to complete before the big day. The club meets every Friday and True uses those meetings as checkpoints in preparing for the competition. 鈥淭he plan for this week is to finish doing design reviews with the students to make sure they've got all their design features in mounting screws, everything that needs to be accounted for in their CAD models,鈥� True said. 鈥楾hen we鈥檙e going to spend spring break printing everything.鈥� The club competitors use both 3D printers on campus and some home printers.
KSU Combat Robotics has some equipment, like remote controls (transmitters and receivers) and battery chargers for students who need them.
鈥淭he Friday after spring break would be a week before our competition, and that's when we're going to do the bulk of assembly and wiring and testing and function checking,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen, obviously, the Friday before competition weekend is about safety; safety testing for the bots that are competing.鈥�
What Else is New This Semester?
Carver does not have any classes in Japanese Studies this spring semester, but he is still practicing writing Japanese characters in anticipation of continuing those studies in the fall. He has memorized one of the most complicated Kanji and can draw it from memory.
鈥淜anji鈥� are ideograms; each character has its own meaning and corresponds to a word. The character Carver has mastered is called 鈥淭aito.鈥� It鈥檚 the largest Japanese character, containing 84 strokes and means 鈥渢he appearance of a dragon in flight.鈥�
VIDEO: Carver recreates one of the most complex Kanji 鈥� from memory 鈥� in less than 30 seconds!
鈥淚t means 鈥榯he illusion of a dragon in the sky,鈥欌€� Carver said. He showed the character on the screen of his laptop and then closed it 鈥淛ust so I鈥檓 not looking anywhere for reference.鈥� Then Carver sat down at a table and drew the character 鈥� in less than 30 seconds.
Carver said he has also been making new friends and has also been helping out friends from his high school as kind of a mentor as they arrive on campus, showing them around and giving them the inside scoop on residence hall life.
New Flags and New Recipes
One of Carver鈥檚 hobbies is collecting flags 鈥� flags of current countries, states and organizations as well as historical flags. The newest flags in his collection are the LGBTQ+ rainbow 鈥淎lly鈥� flag, as well as the flags of Cambodia and Spain.
Carver lives on campus but when he is at home with his mother, he enjoys baking and cooking with her, experimenting with seasonings and collecting favorite recipes.
'The Fun of Robot Fighting'
Carver鈥檚 mother will be on campus on March 22 to cheer on her son as he competes in the KSU Robotics Competition. When asked if he thought his 鈥榖ot 鈥淕ondola鈥� had a winning design for combat, Carver said, 鈥淚n this competition, I鈥檓 not focused too much on winning. I am more in it for the fun of robot fighting.鈥�
