Using robot competitions to promote intellectual development

This article discusses five years of experience using three international m obile robot competitions as the foundation for educational projects in unde rgraduate and graduate computer science courses. The three competitions-(1) AAAI Mobile Robot, (2) AUVS Unmanned Ground Robotics, and (3) IJCAI RoboCu p-were used in different years for an introductory undergraduate robotics c ourse, an advanced graduate robotics course, and an undergraduate practicum course. Based on these experiences, a strategy is presented for incorporat ing competitions into courses in such a way as to foster intellectual matur ation as well as learn lessons in organizing courses and fielding teams. Th e article also provides a classification of the major robot competitions an d discusses the relative merits of each for educational projects, including the expected course level of computer science students, equipment needed, and costs.