CURM Conclusions

28 Apr 2018

CURM was a tremendous success!

For those unfamiliar, the Convention for Unconventional Robotic Movement is an annual showcasing of original robots, made to move in any unconventional manner. We loosely define this as not relying on conventional wheels (like a car) or treads (like a tank). In the past, this has ranged from a slug bot that actually leaves a trail of oil to a hopping robot with a several-foot vertical to a robot that manipulates its center of mass to slowly inch forward.

This year grand total of 13 presentations were given, most with functional and successful robots, and the rest with ambitious and fascinating ideas to work on for next year! This was one of the largest number of entries we have ever had, with robots ranging from walking spider bots to hovercrafts to insect-like “soft” robots.

We also had a 3 teams join us form UT Dallas RAS, our most loyal CURM entry school. Dr. Read, a member of the Austin Robot Group, UT CS PhD alumni, cofounder of 3 start-ups, and robotics researcher, also joined us to present his Tetrobot/Glussbot project. His presentation included, not only a demo of fascinating robotic movement, but the novel mathematics he developed to for optimal movement mapping. As always, UT RAS is always grateful for participation from invited guests who not only add to the creativity, but expand CURM’s opportunities for networking.

I would like to give a big thank you to everyone who participated this year. You all truly made my work worth-while and wowed me with your work and creativity.

If you are interested in combining creativity with technical knowledge, meeting other original thinkers, learning about research projects in unconventional robotics, and creating a unique project to talk about in interviews, please consider joining our next CURM showcasing in Spring, 2019!

Author: Chris Gill

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