The winning team of Panasonic Creative Design Challenge (CDC) included three Delbarton School students who competed against 27 high school teams in New Jersey. Panasonic CDC was conducted at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where students were honored for their innovative design and construction of a space exploration robotic device.
Delbarton School Wins 2012 Panasonic Creative Design Challenge At NJIT. (PRNewsFoto/Panasonic)
The second place was achieved by Academy for Engineering and Design Technology (Hackensack, NJ), while Ramapo High School and Chatham High School achieved the third and fourth place, respectively. Being a runner-up in the 2011 competition, the Delbarton School Teams have won this event for the fourth time in five consecutive years.
This year’s challenge titled "Mars 3000," based on resolving the presence of water on Mars, challenges the team to design and construct a robotic device, which is remote controlled and can explore through an obstacle course while achieving associated space exploration tasks such as maneuvering out of a crater, landing the device; delivering materials to a space craft, and navigating through difficult terrain.
During the finals, demonstrations on robotic space exploration device were presented by the students. Selection was made by the jury based on the oral presentation, engineering logbook entries, quality of written report, and most specifically on the performance of robotic device. The top four schools achieved over $40,000 individual scholarships and prizes.
The Creative Design Challenge in designing a real-world engineering process entails an engineering log book record from the students. In addition, the students need to submit robotics designs and notes, besides an oral presentation and a written report representing the overall design and execution. After qualifying in the preliminary competition, 27 teams are now gearing up for the finals.