| UCF's chapter of Eta Kappa Nu was established in 1975 at what was then Florida Technological University. An international honor society, Eta Kappa Nu recognizes the high academic achievements of students majoring in electrical and computer engineering. Candidates are selected based on marked ability, as evidenced by scholarship, personal character, useful voluntary services and distinguished accomplishments. The organization offers a variety of student and career services plus lifetime assistance in becoming better professionals and citizens. In 2001, UCF's chapter decided to build a competition robot or "BattleBot." Started in 1999, BattleBot competitions pit two remote-controlled vehicles against each other in a double-elimination contest. The sport, known as "robotic combat," encourages the destruction of an opponent, and the BattleBots are designed with a variety of destructive weapons, including whirling saw blades, hammers, battering rams, spikes and even pneumatic cannons. It has become so popular that BattleBot competitions are televised nationally on Comedy Central as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Eta Kappa Nu, with help from UCF's Robotic Combat Club, built two BattleBots, Moebius I and Moebius II. Both bots have competed regionally and Moebius II has battled at the national level. Weapons on both include a bullet-proof, spinning shell and six titanium blades - 4 inches long and 1 inch thick - staggered around the shell. In testing, Moebius I easily destroyed an old IBM server, shredded a computer monitor, ate a 16-pound bowling ball and ripped apart a microwave, throwing the door 25 feet in the air. Both bots have done well in competition, and the chapter has attracted lots of attention, thanks to publicity from campus news, Internet radio, Orlando newspapers and morning television programs. Frank Goergen, Eta Kappa Nu Vice-President, says the BattleBots have opened new doors: "As a result of the BattleBot project's success, our chapter and the robotics club have been presented with several opportunities for expansion. It's been great!" "We are proud of the accomplishments of Eta Kappa Nu's members, both while they are in school and as alumni of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science," says Chris Bauer, the chapter's faculty advisor. "The recent work our members have done in the BattleBot competitions has brought additional, excellent recognition to the SEECS programs at UCF." |
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