Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 14, 2000

Volume 28, Number 28

Student competition will unite an
ancient mythical character and robots

With a box full of motors, pistons, springs, pieces of wood, metal and other materials, Yale mechanical engineering students are building machines intended to rescue the mythological Persephone from the underworld.

"Robot Wars 2000," an annual engineering competition to be held in the Becton Engineering and Applied Science Center on Thursday, April 20, will feature about 30 students pitting their wheeled vehicles against others. The event is free and open to all.

Robert Apfel, the Robert Higgin Professor of Mechanical Engineering, said the robots or machines must fit in a one-foot cube and are controlled by a joystick. They are powered by electricity or an air compressor.

The object this year is to rescue Persephone, who, in Greek mythology, was said to be kidnapped by the Lord of the Underworld, Hades. According to the myth, Hades fed Persephone pomegranate seeds, the supposed delicacy of the dead.

"The goal is to both rescue Persephone and deliver four pomegranate seeds to special seed repositories, and to complete this mighty challenge in 40 seconds," Apfel said. Persephone is about six inches tall and is made of balsa wood with a metal cap so that she can be lifted by a magnet.

The students are provided with the materials to construct a machine about 10 weeks before the competition. Their class, "Mechanical Engineering Design Studio," is aimed at potential mechanical engineering majors, although several students who are not majoring in science take the course as well.

"This gives people who are not engineering majors a chance to do some real hands-on stuff," Apfel said.

The competition will begin at 5 p.m. in Davies Auditorium, Becton Center, 15 Prospect St., and will end at 9 p.m. A break will be held 6-7 p.m. for refreshments and to give students an opportunity to make presentations about their machines.

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