Michigan Students Capture Bronze Medal At World Robot Olympiad
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - Three students from Canton and Northville schools have won the bronze medal in the elementary open division of the World Robot Olympiad in Sochi, Russia.
The Robocruisers E team comprised of Eric Liu, a seventh grader at Canton East Middle School, and Northville Hillsdale Middle School seventh graders Brian Ding and Justin Chang, proposed an experiment titled "An Automated Space Exploration System of Titan."
The goal of the experiment is to explore the possibility of living on Jupiter's moon Titan by designing an automated exploration system which includes a hovercraft (capable of maneuvering across different terrains like sand dunes and methane lakes), a communication system, a data processing system and a logistical support system.
Fifty countries competed in the World Robot Olympiad, and this was the first year that the United States was included.
To qualify for the international competition, the team took first place in the Open Senior category competition at the national finals held Sept. 27 at Lawrence Technological University.
The team will be returning to Michigan Friday.
This story was updated at 9:28 a.m. Nov. 26.