RoboJackets is a group of Georgia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

 students, faculty, and alumni that aims to enhance the understanding of the field of robotics

Robotics

Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...

 and its applications as well as to increase of the number of students exposed to it. The group, located in the Student Competition Center

Student Competition Center

The Student Competition Center is a building at Georgia Tech, also known as the Mechanical Engineering Research Building or the "Tin Building," is home to GT Offroad, RoboJackets, GT Motorsports, and Wreck Racing. The building, operated by the George W...

, allows students to engage in a wide range of engineering-related activities, and has members from almost every engineering major of study offered at Georgia Tech. Students work collaboratively in a group environment and have the abilities to pursue projects on their own.

History

The RoboJackets was founded in 1999 by a group of grads and undergrads interested in the BattleBots competitions. The following year, they would start their highly respected FIRST outreach and mentorship program. The group's first home was in the J.S. Coon building. In 2003, due to renovations of the Coon building and the mechanical engineering departments move to new buildings, they were moved across the alley to their current residence. Since the move the organization has expanded to encompass an IGVC (started in 2003) and a RoboCup team (started in 2007). Over the years it has grown from a handful of students to around 30 active members.

Competition

The RoboJackets participate in several robotics competitions, including RoboCup

RoboCup

RoboCup is an international robotics competition founded in 1997. The aim is to develop autonomous soccer robots with the intention of promoting research and education in the field of artificial intelligence...

 Small Size league, FIRST

First

First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one.First or 1st may also refer to:* First , minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland* First , mountain in Bernese Alps in Switzerland...

, BattleBots

BattleBots

BattleBots is an American company that hosts robot competitions. BattleBots is also the name of the television show created from the competition footage. BattleBots Inc...

, and the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition

Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition

The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition is an annual international robotics competition for teams of undergraduate and graduate students. Teams design and build an autonomous ground vehicle capable of completing several difficult challenges. The competition is well suited to senior design...

. The organization also takes part in a few local non-robotics competitions such as the Dooley Derby and the Starlight Soapbox Downhill Challenge.

Education

Since 2001, the RoboJackets have run Technology Enrichment Sessions (TE Sessions) each fall to expose high school students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The sessions, typically 10 weeks in length, focus on concepts and skills needed to participate in the FIRST

First

First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one.First or 1st may also refer to:* First , minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland* First , mountain in Bernese Alps in Switzerland...

 Robotics Competition. The sessions culminate in a robotics challenge which allows the students to apply their newly found skills to a real robotic system. Typical attendance is over twenty schools. This year, two sessions, an advanced and beginner session, are planned.

Independent Projects

The RoboJackets also encourages its members to work on their own independent robotics projects. Some of these have included a hexapod

Hexapod (robotics)

A six-legged walking robot should not be confused with a Stewart platform, a kind of parallel manipulator used in robotics applications.A hexapod robot is a mechanical vehicle that walks on six legs. Since a robot can be statically stable on three or more legs, a hexapod robot has a great deal of...

, an inverse-kinematic

Inverse kinematics

Inverse kinematics is a subdomain of kinematics, which is of particular interest in robotics and computer animation. In contrast to forward kinematics, which calculates the position of a body after a series of motions, inverse kinematics calculates the motions necessary to achieve a desired...

 arm, and a Roomba

Roomba

The Roomba is a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners sold by iRobot. Under normal operating conditions, it is able to navigate a living space and common obstacles while vacuuming the floor...

-like vacuuming robot.