Chicago Engineering Design Team
Chicago Engineering Design Team (EDT) is an interdisciplinary engineering and robotics organization made up of students from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). It was founded in 2000 by a small group of students that wanted to use the knowledge attained in the classroom in the field of theoretical and applied robotics. EDT is divided into three major teams, electrical, software, and mechanical, that aim to bring robotic engineering to the next level. The organization participates in robotics competitions, organizes various engineering events at UIC, and promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to the  community through outreach events. Competitions. Chicago EDT competes in three major robotics competitions, the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC), the NASA Robotic Mining Competition (RMC), and the Midwestern Robotics Design Competition (MRDC). IGVC is an international contest in which teams from different universities build robots that can autonomously navigate an obstacle course. Each team requires expertise in electrical, software, and mechanical engineering. RMC is a competition in which teams are tasked to design and construct an excavation robot to collect "lunar dust." Teams are given the option of manual control or autonomy. MRDC is a competition where teams of engineering  students must build a robot which completes objectives in order to score points. This competition also has significant combat between robots, and it requires strategy and skill, in addition to a good design, in order to be successful. In preparation for MRDC in March, teams begin the design process in the fall prior to competition. Construction of the robots can begin any time, but usually begin January before the competition. A UIC senior on the team noted that the team members were, "putting in over 20 hours a week," in addition to schoolwork. Robots. The team has developed and competed  with the following robots: Retired Active Notable Achievements. Chicago EDT has received a reputation for well built robots. Some of their achievements are: