By JORDAN MARSHALL

Staff Writer

Milton Mitchell, a junior electrical engineering major, likes to compete.

Mitchell and about 36 other undergraduate students are competing in the robot championship, sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology, Dr. Ben Choi, an assistant professor of computer science, said. The competition is from 10:30 to 11:50 a.m. Tuesday in Tolliver Hall, and it is open to all students.

Choi said most of the students competing are computer science, physics, electrical and mechanical engineering majors.

"It is a great competition that will help students get interested in robotic intelligence," Mitchell said.

Dr. David Hall, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, said he hopes the competition will encourage more students to participate.

"I think it is a good way to put engineering skills to action and it gets students excited about engineering," Hall said.

Choi said all robots must be autonomous, which means they do not require a remote control. He also said three types of robots will be showcased in the competition.

"There are robots that can walk, drive and fly," Choi said.

"One of the robots walks like a human with two legs, one of the robots can fly and the others drive like cars and tanks."

The robots are judged on how fast they can find their way out of a maze, and the audience will vote for the best design, Choi said.

Some of the rules of the competition are robots may not knock down walls or move them, no human can intervene when the robot is in the maze and no combustion engines or gas-releasing engines are allowed, Mitchell said.

Choi teaches a computer science class where students learn how to design robots.

"My students also learn how to build robots, and they use a computer as the brain of their robots to make the robot smart," Choi said.

Choi also said some of the robots that will compete are a result of the Autonomous Intelligent Robot (AIR) lab. In the AIR lab students and professors are researching and developing three types of robots: an autonomous flying helicopter, a humanoid robot and a stair-climbing robot.

"All these robots have great potential for future applications," Choi said.

"We can send our autonomous flying helicopter to observe traffic conditions in highways, a humanoid robot can be a house keeper and the stair-climber can be used as a security guard."

Other applications can be used for the different robots, Choi said.

He said, "In the near future, robots will play more roles in our society, and we are preparing our students for the future."