Pay attention Jack Nicklaus, the robots are taking over


by Neil Norum - Director, WPI News Service
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Students of Professor Dave Zenger's ME4815 Industrial Robotics class at Worcester Polytechnic Institute took time to have some fun during the last week of class recently. The course, an introduction to the field of industrial automation, included computer programming of industrial robots as part of the students' lab work.

For their last lab session, thirteen four-person teams competed with one another using software they developed to control a robot to putt golf balls at three different holes during a three-minute time period. The irregular course included sand traps, a wa ter hazard, and a "little people" audience. Once the correct program for all three holes was determined the robot took over on "auto mode" and consistently sunk ball after ball into the holes. The incentive for the exercise was extra credit for the high-s coring teams.


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