OU Engineering Robotics Teams Excel in Competitions

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Two robotics teams representing the Gallogly College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma showcased their expertise this summer securing victories at two competitions: the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition and the University Rover Challenge.

Sooner Competitive Robotics clinched both first place overall and first place in their specific category, AutoNav, at the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition held at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, from June 2-5. The team's performance marks their return to the top spot after securing first place in 2021 and finishing second in 2022. The competition witnessed participation from 29 universities across the United States, Canada, India and Japan. 

Braden White, a senior in computer engineering from Frisco, Texas, took on the role of team captain, while Jorge Exinia, an alum of OU’s computer engineering program, held the position of president for Sooner Competitive Robotics. 

Sooner Competitive Robotics' achievement garnered one of the highest scores ever recorded in the 30-year history of the organization.

The Sooner Rover Team showcased their talents at the University Rover Challenge on May 31-June 3 in Hanksville, Utah. The team began the year competing with 104 teams from 15 countries. In March, 37 teams were invited to compete in the 2023 finals. OU placed 12th overall and seventh place in the autonomous portion of the competition. Guiding the endeavor were co-captains: Benton Smith, a graduate student from Flower Mound, Texas, and Abbey Moore, an alumna in mechanical engineering from Pearland, Texas.

OU computer science alum Noah Zemlin, now a research associate at OU, provided advisory support to the students. He notes that Exinia, Smith and Moore were all active students while working on one of the teams and were either in their senior year or final graduate year. 

Learn more about OU Engineering.

By Lorene A. Roberson, Gallogly College of Engineering

Sooner Competitve Robotics
The Sooner Competitive Robotics team, from left, Braden White,
Antonio Chappell, Yu Hao Zhang, Dylan Zemlin and Jorge Exinia.

Rover Team
The Sooner Rover Team, from left, Tyler Roman, assistant professor Allison Quiroga, Derek Alexander, Ethan Crouch, Waverly Landrith, Cooper Whitnah, Angie Norris, Jack Cornette, Benton Smith, Aditi Gali, Abbey Moore,  Evan Green, Cole Linam, Caden Matthews, Meg Thung, Evan Green, Gabe Cenker, Joy Suttles, Slade Smelser, Danny Gutierrez, Logan Murphy, Camden Sayers and Yuki Zheng.


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