CISSRS was founded in the March of 1998 in response to a growing need for educational support and student involvement in computer integrated surgery. This student run society was created to provide a bridge between professionals and students, and to realize the interests of students. The Computer Integrated Surgery Student Research Society is open to all undergraduate, graduate, and medical students who are interested in engineering, medicine, or both. CISSRS is also an important facet to LCSR/CISST ERC because it coordinates pre-college outreach, which provides direct mentoring to future engineers in the community surrounding JHU.

If interested in getting involved, contact Alison Morrow (alison.morrow@jhu.edu).

• Johns Hopkins Robo-Challenge 2014

  The purpose of the Johns Hopkins Robo Challenge is to complement classroom instruction by providing students with a unique opportunity to apply classroom skills and knowledge in a fun and competitive environment. The event brings students in teams to construct and program small robots that compete in several challenges.This competition is free and open to all middle and high school students.

  Events

  Open Hours: March 15th, 2014 click (1-5pm)
  Description: Graduate student will be available to assist teachers and students one-on-one to help diagnose problems that teams may be facing with their robot.
  Location: Hackerman Hall B17, Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus (directions)
  JHRC Competition: April 5th, 2014 click (10am-5pm)
  Location: Johns Hopkins University Athletic Center (Directions)
  Register here by March 22.
  This year we are coordinating with the Hopkins Robotics Cup to host both robotics events on the same day. For more information see their website.

   

  General Rules

  1) Robot programs must be written entirely by the student teams (but may receive input from mentors).

  2) Teams may use portions of programs that they have previously written. However, they may not use programs that other people wrote or that were obtained by online resources.

  3) Only robots that comply with the “Acceptable Robots” may be used for events 1-3. 4) There may not be more than 3 student members (Grades 6-12) on a team.

  For a complete set of rules see the 2014 official PDF.

  Acceptable Robots

  This year, there is a specific size limit for each robot competing in Challenges 1-3. This rule supersedes previous restrictions on which robots could be used. For the first three challenges the maximum width and length of the robot is 7.5 inches by 7.5 inches. Within reason, there is no size limit for challenges 4 and 5.

  We are also removing previous restrictions on which sensors can be used. You can now use any sensor compatible with your robot kit.

  Suggested robots:

  • Arduino-based robot
  • Sparki
  • BoE-Bot
  • Other options

  We have a set of BoE-bots that can be loaned out for free (with $150 security deposit). If you would like a kit email us at jhurobocomp@gmail.com.

  Sponsors

  Thank you to the sponsors who make this event possible!

  • The Laboratory for Computation Sensing and Robotics
  • The Johns Hopkins Alumni Association
  • The Graduate Representative Organization

  Contact Info

  Feel free to contact us with any questions, comments, or concerns at jhuRoboComp@gmail.com.

   

  Wrap-Up and Winners

  Thank you to all of the JHRC 2014 Participants! This year’s event was a huge success thanks to all of your hard work, enthusiasm, and creative designs! We are so proud of each team’s success – all of your work truly exceeded our expectations. We hope you will continue be as excited to pursue robotics in the future as we are!

  Special thanks to our competition judges, speakers, and volunteers for your unyielding dedication!

  Thank you to the sponsors who make this event possible!

  • The Laboratory for Computation Sensing and Robotics
  • The Johns Hopkins Alumni Association
  • The Graduate Representative Organization

   

   Congratulations to all the teams who participated in the Johns Hopkins Robo Challenge! 
  

  Slithering Slalom

  • 1st place: Friends School – Sam Siegmeister and Kyle Spawn
  • 2nd place: St Paul’s School for Girls – Jacquelyn Slade
  • 3rd place: Middle River Middle School – Abhijeet Toor, Hana Harwood, Sukhvir Singh

  Mystery Maze

  • 1st place: Garrison Forest – Jackie Magaha and Alyssa Magaha
  • 2nd place: St Paul’s School for Girls – Savannah Schiebel and Sydney McGill
  • 3rd place: St. Timothy’s – Dorotea Debelack, Constanze Schwarz, and Lin Ma

  Search and Destroy

  • 1st place: Garrison Forrest – Jackie Magaha and Alyssa Magaha
  • 2nd place: Institute of Notre Dame – Sarah Weatherly and Jacqueline Floyd

  Robot Dance

  • 1st place: Garrison Forest – Jackie Magaha and Alyssa Magaha
  • 2nd place: Elizabeth Seton – Julia Pedersoli, Meaghan Ryan, and Mara Herdic
  • 3rd place: Institute of Notre Dame – Kendall McCoach, Jandah Smith, and Molly Hecker
  • Audience Pick: Elizabeth Seton – Julia Pedersoli, Meaghan Ryan, and Mara Herdic

• Johns Hopkins Robo-Challenge 2013

  The purpose of the Johns Hopkins Robo Challenge is to complement classroom instruction by providing students with a unique opportunity to apply classroom skills and knowledge in a fun and competitive environment. The event brings students in teams to construct and program small robots that compete in several challenges.This competition is free and open to all middle and high school students.

  Thank you to the sponsors who make this event possible!

  • The Laboratory for Computation Sensing and Robotics
  • The Johns Hopkins Alumni Association
  • The Graduate Representative Organization

  This year’s robotic systems challenge consists of five separate challenges. A short description of each is provided.

  Participating Robot

  Categories and Rules:

  Challenge 1: Petite Slalom

  The Petite Slalom is a course in which competitors robots travel from the starting gate to the finish line while traveling through “gates.” The gates are selected from pre-determined points on the rough side of a 3’ x 6’ section of tempered hardboard. Teams will be able to practice on practice tracks they can construct from provided directions. When they arrive at the competition they will be told which gates they must pass through to get points. The most successful robots will traverse the course correctly and be the fastest to accomplish the route. Since all the points where gates can possibly be placed will be known in advance, teams will be able to program their robot to run segments of the course in preparation. They will then have to join these segments together at the competition to run through the correct gates. There are two categories of this slalom. Category 1 uses the Parallax Boebot and Category 2 is Lego Mindstorms NXT kit.

  Challenge 2: Mystery Course

  Teams will arrive at the competition with no knowledge of what the course will be. The course will be some type of blind course that requires robotic sensors to maneuver. They must come to the challenge equipped with a complete Boebot and the knowledge required to effectively use the sensors provided in the kit. Teams will be given 90 minutes to assemble the sensors on the robot and program the robot. The course will not be available to the competitors during the programming and assembly phase. The students will place their robot in line when they feel they have programmed it successfully. All robots will be tested on progressively more difficult mazes, and will be ranked by time, with the fastest time on the most difficult stage being the winner.

  Challenge 3: Unleashing the Mad Scientist, Innovative Use of Board of Education

  Teams will design an innovative and practical new use for the Basic Stamp Board of Education, or any other robotic kits. They will display a working model of their idea in an oral presentation along with a written report. Teams will be judged on quality of the idea, operation of the prototype, the oral report and the written report. This challenge is designed to be the result of innovation and robotic exploration and is considered the premiere challenge of the day’s event.

  Challenge 4: Search and Destroy, Tumor Detection

  Teams of Robotic Brain Tumor Surgeons will design and program their Boebots to find all the “tumors” (large white circles) at various unknown locations in the patient’s brain, a 3’ x 3’ enclosure (painted in matt black). The BoeBot will be placed in a random point inside the brain and should be able to detect the corners and sides of the enclosure and to search the entire brain for tumors on its own. When a tumor is found, the robot must signal to the surgeons(possiblty a buzzer or LED). The robot should stop once the entire brain has been searched. Teams will be judged on their robot’s ability to find all the tumors, time to complete the search, and efficiency. Bonus points will be awarded for creative signals!

  Challenge 5: So You Think Your Robot Can Dance

  Teams will program an original dance routine for their robot. Choreography can include a combination of spins, repeated sequences, and other creative movements. Students are permitted to use any additional components (motors, sensors, etc.) and any robot kit. Multiple robots are also allowed to be used in the dance. Scoring will be based on the robot’s performance and the creativity of the dance routine.

  Can My Robot Compete?

  The following table serves as an unofficial guide to what robot can compete in each event. Please read the specific event rules to verify that your robot can compete in the event you are hoping to enter. The Board of Education robot kit (B.O.E. Robot Kit) can compete in every event.

  Allowable Robots	B.O.E.	NXT Kit	VEX Kit	LEGO Mindstorm
  Petite Slalom	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
  Mystery Course	Yes	No	No	no
  Innovative Use	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Robot Dance	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Search and Destroy	Yes	No	No	No

  Documents:

  Here you can download an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file with the all the rules.

  JHU Robotic Contest Rules

  Robot Sensor Rules:

  For the BoeBot category competitions, only sensors that come with the standard BoeBot kit may be used. You may use as many of these sensors as you wish, but all sensors must be the same type as provided in a standard BoeBot kit. For challenges that include one category for the BoeBot and another category for any other robot, the sensor rule applies only to the BoeBot category. The “any robot” category may always use any sensor desired.

  The judges for each challenge will be inspecting the robots to ensure conformance to the sensor rules. If your robot uses a sensor other than the BoeBot’s standard sensors, you may compete in the “any robot” category if this category exists for your particular challenge. Note that only some, and not all, of the challenges have an “any robot” category. If there is no “any robot” category for a particular challenge, then your robot will not be able to compete in that challenge unless the standard BoeBot sensors are used.

  An OK Example:

  The standard BoeBot kit comes with two IR sensors. If, for example, you happen to have four IR sensors (using two more from another BoeBot kit or ordering extra from Parallax) you may use all four of them in a BoeBot category challenge.

  A Not OK Example:

  The SumoBot from Parallax comes with special IR sensors that are optimized for detecting dark areas on a surface. This sensor is the QTI sensor. It is not ok to use this sensor on your BoeBot for a BoeBot category competition, because the QTI sensors have better performance than the BoeBot’s IR sensors and using them would provide an unfair advantage.

   

  Wrap-up and Winners

  Thank you to all of the JHRC 2013 Participants! This year’s event was a huge success thanks to all of your hard work, enthusiasm, and creative designs! We are so proud of each team’s success- all of your work truly exceeded our expectations. We hope you will continue be as excited to pursue robotics in the future as we are!
  Special thanks to our competition judges, speakers, and volunteers for your unyielding dedication!
  Thank you to the sponsors who make this event possible!

  • The Laboratory for Computation Sensing and Robotics
  • The Johns Hopkins Alumni Association
  • The Graduate Representative Organization

  We hope to see you all next year!!

   

  Congratulations to all the winners!

   

  Petite Slalom

  Category 1 (BoeBots):

  • 1st place: Hope Chinese School – Lucy Wen
  • 2nd place: Chesapeake Science Point – Asjed Tufail
  • 3rd place: Stemmers Run MS – Brandon Jones and Madison Knudsen

  Category 2 (Non-BoeBots):

  • 1st place: Friends School of Baltimore – Noah Todd, Augie Calabresi, and Michaels Latman

  Mystery Course

  • 1st place: Loyola Blakefield – John MacDonald
  • 2nd place: Saint Anselm’s Abbey School – Tom Schmitt and Garth Herbert
  • 3rd place: Chesapeake Science Point – Eric Chu, Kevin Butler, and Asjed Tufail

  Search and Destroy

  • 1st place: Hope Chinese School – Kyle Liu and Lucy Wen
  • 2nd place: Garrison Forest School – Jackie Magaha and Alyssa Magaha
  • 3rd place: Saint Anselm’s Abbey School – Alex Lemmon and Robert Haislmaier

  Innovative Use

  • 1st place: Burleigh Manor Middle School – Jason Li
  • 2nd place: Burleigh Manor Middle School – Steen Alme
  • 3rd place: Loyola Blakefield – Joshua Geronimo

  Robot Dance

  • 1st place: Garrison Forest School – Jackie Magaha and Alyssa Magaha
  • 2nd place: Loyola Blakefield – Joshua Geronimo
  • 3rd place: Northeast Middle School – Ka’sean Molineaux and Kennard Watson
  • Audience Pick: Garrison Forest School – Jackie Magaha and Alyssa Magaha