INTERNATIONAL TEAM PRESENTS THE FIRST-EVER 3D CHOCOLATE PRINTER*

FACULTY WORLDWIDE

*BUILT WITH FISCHERTECHNIK TOOLS

Building a robot that works on sensors and is controlled by a PC. That, in a nutshell, was the assignment given to the second bachelor stage students in their first semester. The various teams set to work enthusiastically. At the end of the semester, the best teams presented their results. Students and professors judged the work. The Chocolate Robot Team of 6 international students won the EE3 prize.

The winning team

The courses on ‘engineering experiences’ are amongst the most memorable course units in the engineering curricula at Campus Group T. They are interdisciplinary learning expe - riences that extend over the entire programme. Students are challenged to take on exciting team assignments as a result of which they acquire the competences of an enterprising engineer. ‘Making stuff work’ is the central theme of the Engineering Experiences in the second bachelor stage. Each of the projects is conceived in such a way that the teams design and build an original and tangible product that works effectively.

Furthermore, each team is expected to research the cost of its project in terms of materials and labour. After all, everything that is designed and produced, should also be economically viable.

Competition

At the final day of the competition the best teams demonstrate their creations: a sand - wich making machine, an automatic goal keeper, a robot clock, a solar sunshade, an intelligent chicken coop, etc. The Chocolate Robot Team of Hannah Davidoff (USA), Youssef el Laithy (Egypt), Vladyslav Neshta (Ukraine), Jesheena Appalswawmy (Mauritius), Ibrahim Issa (Egypt) and George Athanassoulis Makris (Greece) was proclaimed as the winner with the first-ever 3D chocolate printer built with fischertechnik tools. “Deciding on what exactly we would design and build was less obvious”, Hannah remarks. “After we had written down all possible ideas, we put it to the vote. After 3 rounds of voting, three options were left: a master - mind machine, a robot player guide and a chocolate 3 D-printer. After consultation with our coach we decided to build the chocolate printer.”

Team spirit

An ambitious project like this one always has unexpected turns”, Ibrahim believes. “This is why it is of crucial importance that you can rely on a strong team spirit and a flexible division of tasks. George and I were responsible for the programming, Youssef, Jesheena and Vladyslav took care of the assembly and the sensors. And Hannah did, among many other tasks, most of the inevitable paperwork. Of course, all of us were actively involved in the design and development of the 3D chocolate printer.”

Yves Persoons