TERRE HAUTE —
The imagination and analytical skills of Rose-Hulman students were once again on display Wednesday.
Robots, smart phone applications and statistical feedback for small-arms testing were just a few of the senior projects Rose students were demonstrating in the Hulman Union building.
A robot — about the size of a beagle with a long, skinny arm attached — followed the directions of seniors Jason Block, Andy Milluzzi, Trenton Tabor and Luke Woolley. The team fashioned the robot to find, lift and sort objects for industrial uses and according to easily programmable instructions.
National Instruments of Austin, Texas, commissioned the seniors to develop the robot, Milluzzi said, which can be made for less than $1,000.
Another senior project will help a robot mowing machine know when to stop working because it has collected too many grass clippings. The robot mower, developed by Precise Path Robotics of Indianapolis, is designed to mow golf course putting greens at night.
Seniors Tim Hollingshead, Steven Keltner, Jordan Maurer and Han Yang have worked to improve the robot’s ability to know when it has collected enough grass clippings and should shut down.
Another group of seniors developed a smart phone application, or app, to help visitors to find their way around Rose-Hulman.
The app can be used to help people with specific purposes for visiting campus, such as those interested in playing football or performing music in addition to attending classes.
“One of the cool things we really like is turn-by-turn directions,” said Jimmy Theis, a Rose senior who helped design the app with Scott Glowski, Bryan Watts and Kevin Wells. “Even indoors. It’s a pretty cool feature.”
Dozens of companies apply each year to have Rose students put their imaginations and problem-solving skills to work on special projects, said Shawn Bohner, director of software engineering at the eastside university. Companies have learned that Rose students are creative and can develop valuable solutions to difficult problems, he said.
For example, ChaCha.com, a question-answering website based in Indiana, has asked Rose students to help it develop software to allow quicker and more efficient answers to questions it receives. And Roche Diagnostics is working with Rose seniors to find ways to better test their health care products while keeping their costs to consumers as low as possible.
Other companies and organizations teaming up with Rose students this year include the United States Navy, Cybermetrix, Com
pareMyCandidates.com, Global Automation Partners, Rose-Hulman Ventures and Liberty University.
“All of the students are learning skills that are marketable,” Bohner said. “These senior projects, they do it on their own. They basically run the show.” This year’s projects are the best Bohner has seen from Rose students since these annual projects began in this format four or five years ago, he said.
“We’re doing things to prepare our students for a global market,” Bohner said. “How are we going to be competitive? It’s having students do things like we’re doing in here.”
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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