Gallois Autonomous Robot Competition

The Gallois Autonomous Robot Competition is a highlight of the first-year experience for Stevens engineering students. The competition strengthens design, critical thinking and adaptability skills as three-student teams compete for cash prizes by building autonomous robots.

Dr. Bernard M. Gallois

The Gallois Autonomous Robot Competition is supported by Dr. Bernard Gallois, former dean of the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering & Science. During his tenure as dean, from 1996-2002, Dr. Gallois and his team conceived of the eight-course design spine that is a hallmark of SES students’ education. Through the generosity of Dr. Gallois and his family, students compete for a first prize of $1,000, a second prize of $500 and a third prize of $250.

The Competition

As part of their second design course in the spring semester, students work in three-person teams to design and develop their motorized robots. For the competition, students are given a path for their robot to travel inside a rectangular arena – a model of the Stevens campus – with target checkpoints and obstacles. The robots must navigate to each waypoint as quickly as possible while avoiding obstacles. Students participate in a preliminary round and the top 10 to 12 teams advance to the finals.

On Expo Day, in the final competition, the teams are given a new path and 15 minutes to prepare their robots and code. Each team gets three trials with two opportunities to tweak the code between runs. The position of the robot is tracked by LIDAR, a light detection and ranging remote sensing system. Scores are calculated based on a robot’s ability to execute the given path, the accuracy of its adherence to the path and its success avoiding obstacles.