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{{Multiple issues|{{Update|date=February 2020}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=February 2020}}}}

{{Infobox recurring event
|name = 
|logo = MRDC-LOGO.png
|logo_alt =
|logo_caption =
|logo_size =
|image = 2014 JSDC Course.jpeg
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption = 2014 JSDC course
|status = discontinued
|genre = Robotics competition
|date = 
|begins = 
|ends = 
|frequency = Annually
|venue = [[Kenney Gym and Kenney Gym Annex|Kenney Gym Annex]]
|location = [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|UIUC]]
|coordinates = 
|country = [[United States|USA]]
|years_active = {{age|1987|0|0|2019|3|9}}
|first = {{start date|1987}}
|founder_name = 
|last = {{End date|2019|03|9|df=y}}
|prev =
|next =
|participants =
|attendance =
|capacity =
|area =
|budget =
|activity =
|leader_name =
|patron =
|organised = 
|filing =
|people =
|member =
|sponsor = 
|website = {{URL|mrdc.ec.illinois.edu}}
|current =
|footnotes =
}}

The '''Midwestern Robotics Design Competition''' (MRDC) was an annual student-run [[Robot competition|robotics competition]] held every March at the [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] (UIUC), where participant teams competed with self-constructed robots in an annual game objective. The competition was first held in 1987 and at the time of its last event was one of the oldest continuing robotics competitions in the United States.<ref name="MRDC-Overview">{{cite web |title=Competition Overview |url=http://mrdc.ec.illinois.edu/general-info/ |website=MRDC - Midwest Robotics Design Competition |access-date=9 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309204457/http://mrdc.ec.illinois.edu/general-info/ |archive-date=9 March 2020}}</ref> Prior to 2016, it was named the '''AMD Jerry Sanders Creative Design Competition''' (JSDC) after [[Jerry Sanders (businessman)|Jerry Sanders]], a University of Illinois alumnus and the co-founder and former long-time CEO of [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Goliath Demolishes at Robotics Competition |url=https://today.iit.edu/goliath-demolishes-at-robotics-competition/ |website=today.iit.edu |access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref><ref name="Illini2012.03">{{cite news |title=Engineering Open House shows potential students the way to a bright future at UIUC |url=https://dailyillini.com/uncategorized/2012/03/12/engineering-open-house-shows-potential-students-the-way-to-a-bright-future-at-uiuc/ |access-date=9 March 2020 |work=[[The Daily Illini]] |date=12 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309184546/https://dailyillini.com/uncategorized/2012/03/12/engineering-open-house-shows-potential-students-the-way-to-a-bright-future-at-uiuc/ |archive-date=9 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="Rayan">{{cite news |last1=Rayan |first1=Ashley |title=University team gears up for Midwestern Robotic Design Competition |url=https://dailyillini.com/special-sections/technograph/2017/11/30/university-teams-gears-midwestern-robotic-design-competition/ |access-date=9 March 2020 |work=[[The Daily Illini]] |date=30 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309211251/https://dailyillini.com/special-sections/technograph/2017/11/30/university-teams-gears-midwestern-robotic-design-competition/ |archive-date=9 March 2020}}</ref>

A different game objective was created every year, intended to test the competitors' skills in creative design and functionality. Team registration usually ended in January, and was open to any college or university team.<ref name="MRDC-Overview" /> Multiple independent teams from the same university were allowed. Participating teams from universities across the [[Midwestern United States]] spent nearly a year designing and constructing their robot for the event, and traveled to the UIUC Engineering Open House in March to compete in the {{convert|2000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} arena for the two-day (Fri-Sat) event. The Design Competition was funded by grants from [[Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing|ARM]] and was organized by the MRDC Committee at UIUC.

According to the MRDC website, <blockquote>"The competition promotes engineering disciplines and offers students a chance to demonstrate their technical abilities and creativity while applying knowledge learned in engineering courses. Overall, the design competition presents a well-rounded multi-disciplinary engineering challenge to future engineers."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jsdc.ec.illinois.edu/ |title=JSDC Official Site |access-date=2012-02-20 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711150355/http://jsdc.ec.illinois.edu/ |archive-date=2012-07-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref></blockquote>

== Annual competitions ==

=== 7th annual competition (1994) ===
The 7th annual competition featured teams from several universities, including Purdue, that competed in a giant game of [[billiards]], played with remote-controlled billiard balls. Competitors were provided an RC car and 18" plastic sphere. The objective was to push other balls into the pockets.

=== 23rd annual competition (2010) ===
The 23rd annual competition featured 20 teams from five different universities that competed in a giant game of [[tic-tac-toe]], played with [[Balloon|colored balloons]].

=== 25th annual competition (2012) ===
A course littered with [[Flogo|foam balls]] was prepared for the 2012 competition. The competing teams had to navigate the course, collect the balls with their robots, and deposit them into scoring bins.<ref name="Illini2012.03" />

=== 27th annual competition (2014) ===
To win the competition, one had to design a “cone transportation system” that transported [[traffic cone]]s to specified areas in the arena, known as "''territories''", to win points. After a team successfully transported cones to a ''territory,'' said ''territory'' was said to be "under the control" of that team. There were three tiers of ''territories'' that awarded 1, 3, and 5 points when "controlled" for 10 seconds. ''Territories'' "controlled" at the end of the match awarded 10, 30, and 40 points.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bramble|first1=Jordan|last2=Merida|first2=Harold|last3=Khan|first3=Ibtsam|date=2014-04-01|title=Design of a quadcopter for winning the Jerry Sanders Creative Design Competition|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269302240|pages=198–203|doi=10.1109/SIEDS.2014.6829881|isbn=978-1-4799-4836-9|s2cid=14615867}}</ref>

=== 28th annual competition (2015) ===
The course was set up with four quadrants, with each robot starting within their “home” corner. Robots had to traverse obstacles such as [[moat]]s, [[Seesaw|teeter totters]], [[tunnel]]s and doors that covered the course in order to collect the balls they needed to score. There were three types of balls used in the competition, foam balls, [[wiffle ball]]s, and [[golf ball]]s. Each type has a different point value assigned to it based on how hard it is to collect and place it into the scoring bin. Foam balls and wiffle balls are scored by getting them into a rotating bin and golf balls are scored by putting them into a hole on a putting green.<ref name=":0" />

A demolition round followed the main competition, where the robots demolished each other. The [[Illinois Institute of Technology|Illinois Institute of Technology's]] team was the champion of the demolition round.<ref name=":0" />

=== 29th annual competition (2016) ===
The 2016 course included two levels, and gates that opened and closed. This forced teams to work on a strategy to get into the inner circle before scoring in the game.

=== 31st annual competition (2018) ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+MRDC 2018 Winners<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://mrdc.ec.illinois.edu/teams/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420063118/http://mrdc.ec.illinois.edu/teams/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-04-20|title=Teams – MRDC|date=2019-04-20|access-date=2020-03-18}}</ref>
!Prize
!Team/Robot
!Institute
|-
|First Place
|QUIN
|[[Northern Illinois University]]
|-
|Second Place
|Ernie
|[[Valparaiso University]]
|-
|Third Place
|Marvin
|[[Valparaiso University]]
|-
|Demolition Round Winner
|ITR Goliath
|[[Illinois Institute of Technology]]
|-
|Creative Design Award
|Marvin
|[[Valparaiso University]]
|}

In the 2018 competition, teams had to score different balls on their respective targets on a course. Each round had four of the teams competing, and each team was to score as many points as they could by scoring [[soccer balls]] in ''team soccer ball goals'' and/or scoring foam balls in the ''center bin''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mrdc.ec.illinois.edu/mrdc-2018/|title=MRDC 2018 – MRDC|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>

=== 32nd annual competition (2019) ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+MRDC 2019 Winners<ref name=":1" />
!Prize
!Team/Robot
!Institute
|-
|First Place
|Remote Vehicle
|[[Northern Illinois University]]
|-
|Second Place
|STELLA
|[[University of Illinois at Chicago]]
|-
|Third Place
|Southern Budget
|[[Southern Illinois University]]
|-
|Demolition Round Winner
|ITR Goliath
|[[Illinois Institute of Technology]]
|-
|Creative Design Award
|Marvin
|[[Valparaiso University]]
|}
The 2019 competition included a sequencing game, where robots had to press buttons in a sequence, and a basketball game, where foam balls were to be shot into basketball hoops. There were a number of other rounds of challenges.<ref>Competition Rules & Design Restrictions, ''32nd Annual Midwestern Robotics Design Competition – 2019'', https://web.archive.org/web/20190420062548/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bbUIHDZCNpQOnWnQue9Hm34SxQaLgyzQ/view?usp=sharing</ref>

===Discontinuation===

In 2020, the competition was postponed indefinitely due to the [[COVID-19 outbreak]].<ref name="Petrov">{{cite web |author1=VassilyPetrov |title=MRDC 2020 - Postponed Until Further Notice |url=http://mrdc.ec.illinois.edu/Ask/discussion/74/mrdc-2020-postponed-until-further-notice |website=mrdc.ec.illinois.edu |access-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316145522/http://mrdc.ec.illinois.edu/Ask/discussion/74/mrdc-2020-postponed-until-further-notice |archive-date=16 March 2020 |date=11 March 2020}}</ref> There has not been a competition held since the 2019 competition.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|mrdc.ec.illinois.edu}}
* [http://eoh.ec.illinois.edu/ UIUC Engineering Open House]

[[Category:Robotics competitions]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1987]]
[[Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]]

Midwestern Robotics Design Competition - Revision history

imported>Eadams62 at 02:38, 20 November 2024