Napoleon is rumored to have said that if you dress them alike, they will think alike, and Frank Archibald said this was the case with the participants in the robotic device competition held last night at the Nittany Lion Inn.

The uniformly tie-clad contest participants were students completing a project for Mechanical Engineering 456, Industrial Robot Applications, taught by Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Kathryn Lilly. Their assignment was to design, build and test a prototypic robotic device for automating analysis of toxic and radioactive materials.

"Somehow dressing like professionals is making them feel more professional," said an amused Archibald, a senior research associate at the University's Applied Research Laboratory, commenting on the mood of Lilly's students.

And this professionalism in mimicking a real-world situation was the spirit of the project, which required students to pretend that they were trying to sell a prototype under an assumed company name to real buyers.

The students' devices were required to move, open and close sample containers, measure and mix samples for analysis, transfer liquids between containers, heat samples and clean spills and mistakes.

The devices were judged on their versatility, stability, accuracy, repeatability, speed and robustness. Three "contracts" were awarded based on these criteria by the panel of judges Lilly selected, but Lilly graded the entire class.

"It was time-consuming, but at least it was practical," said Kevin Stefanic (senior-mechanical engineering) of "Booze Brothers Incorporated," who also commented that this was his first design class requiring actual physical construction.

Lilly said the development of such robotic devices for hazardous waste clean-up is crucial in minimizing human contact with dangerous substances.

"The Department of Energy has been very interested in the cleaning up of hazardous waste sites," said Lilly, explaining the impetus for the project.

Phil Choi (senior-mechanical engineering) of the "RoTok Company" was happy with the project because it was fun and allowed him valuable experience even though it made him work.

"I'd like to see a lot more hands-on team projects in the curriculum," Choi said.