Campus News
Bullfighting droids face off in UCSC student robotics competition
UCSC engineering students will give a public demonstration of bullfighting robots on Thursday, March 10.
The mechanical bullfighting competition is the final project for students in the Introduction to Mechatronics class taught by Gabriel Elkaim, associate professor of computer engineering in the Baskin School of Engineering. The students work in teams to build a “droid” or robot that can act both as a bull, to “gore” the toreador by ramming it, and as a toreador, to place “banderillas” (ping-pong balls) into a target on the back of the charging bull.
“The purpose of this project is to give students an opportunity to apply all that they have learned in the class to solve an open-ended problem,” Elkaim said.
This year’s competition is called “Slug-O-Léte: This Ain’t No Bull.” In his instructions to the students, Elkaim explained, “The most famous of toreadors, Manoléte, was gored to death in the ring. Your droids, the Slug-o-létes, will demonstrate how it’s done.”