U Of M Students Compete In Final Four Bot Shot Championship
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – There's another basketball championship on the line this weekend, but the four colleges competing will rely more on brains than brawn.
Engineering students from the University of Minnesota will face off against Wisconsin, Purdue, and South Dakota State in the Land O' Lakes Bot Shot Championship.
This basketball team needs tools, not towels. The Gophers are in the Final Four – of Bot Shot, that is. It's a competition blending science and sport.
Using reflective light and a camera, the U of M's robot adjusts its angle and force.
"Once it finds out where the square is, it's able to convert that to how far away it is and the angle it is at," said Laura Irvine, U of M's team captain.
With former Duke and Timberwolves star Christian Laettner looking on, the team fine tunes for swish after swish.
They'll compete Sunday against three other schools for $10,000. Sponsor Land O' Lakes says it reflects what's vital to so many industries.
"We need computer scientists, mathematicians, engineers. And this is an opportunity to talk about these fields in a fun," said Kim Olson, with Land O' Lakes.
Laettner is hosting Sunday's challenge. He says it's important to celebrate not just the physical, but the mental athletes also.
"It's a bot challenge, they have to create something, make something. Engineering and math are involved and sometimes that gets left behind," Laettner said.
