Sooner Competitive Robotics (SCR), University of Oklahoma

The core mission of SCR is to build engineering excellence within the university and its community. It achieves this by providing students with hands-on, project-based learning experiences that mirror real-world industry practices. The organization is challenge-driven and team-oriented, welcoming students from all majors and experience levels.

Core Activities: What SCR Does

SCR's primary function is to design, fabricate, program, and test sophisticated, custom-built robots to win collegiate competitions. The organization is structured into several sub-teams, each with its own specific challenge, competition, and leadership.

These teams are interdisciplinary, requiring students to fill roles in: * Mechanical Engineering: Designing the robot's chassis, appendages, and drive systems using CAD software, and fabricating parts. * Electrical Engineering: Developing custom Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), managing power distribution, and integrating all sensors, motors, and controllers. * Software Engineering: Programming the robot's logic. This ranges from tele-operation (remote control) to fully autonomous navigation, machine learning (like Convolutional Neural Networks for lane detection), and path planning using systems like the Robot Operating System (ROS).

"Products" and "Services" (Offerings)

As a student organization, SCR's "products" are its competitive robots and the talent it develops, while its "services" are its educational and community-facing activities.

1. "Products" (Primary Outputs)

• Competition Robots: The most tangible "products" of SCR are the high-performance robots its teams create each year. These are not for sale but are the "product" entered into competitions. Each robot is a fully integrated system designed from the ground up. Examples include:

  • "Twistopher" (2025 IGVC Robot): A highly advanced autonomous robot featuring 360-degree "swerve drive" and four-corner vision, which secured a third consecutive win at the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition.
  • "Danger Zone" (2024 IGVC Robot): The previous year's 1st place autonomous vehicle.
  • "The Aluminium Whale" (2021 IGVC Robot): The 1st place winner at IGVC, notable for its aluminum t-slot chassis and integration of a CAN bus communication protocol.
  • STORM Robots: Tele-operated robots designed to navigate difficult terrain and interact with objects from a remote control station.
  • Combat Robots ("Combots"): Smaller, high-impact robots built for combat robotics events.

• Internal Software Projects: SCR also develops its own reusable software tools:

  • robotlib: A shared library of code and software components used across different SCR teams to standardize development.
  • simulator: A simulation environment used to test autonomous driving algorithms before deploying them on a physical robot.

2. "Services" (Activities and Opportunities)

• Competitive Engineering Experience: SCR's primary "service" is providing University of Oklahoma students with an unparalleled, hands-on engineering experience. Members gain practical skills in design, fabrication (like 3D printing and machining), PCB design (using tools like Altium), and advanced software development (AI, ROS, C++).

• Hosting a Robotics Competition: SCR has expanded its role from just competing to also hosting its own intercollegiate competition called STORM (The Student Tele-Operated Robotics Mission).

  • What it is: STORM is a competition created by SCR to be more accessible and affordable for new and smaller university teams.
  • The Challenge: Teams build tele-operated robots that must navigate, investigate, and interact with a remote environment, controlling the robot solely over a WiFi link. This "service" promotes STEM education and robotics at a broader collegiate level.

• Interdisciplinary Team-Building and Leadership: The organization provides a real-world environment for students of all backgrounds (not just engineering) to learn teamwork, project management, budgeting, and leadership skills.

• Mentorship and Training: SCR actively welcomes students with no prior robotics experience. It provides mentorship from senior members and training to help new members learn the necessary skills, ensuring knowledge is passed down.

• STEM Outreach: The organization engages with the community by participating in engineering recruitment events and other collaborations, promoting STEM and robotics to pre-college students.

Major Competition Teams

SCR's activities are best understood through its specific teams:

• IGVC (Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition): This is SCR's most prominent team and a consistent national champion.

  • AutoNav: The team builds a large, fully autonomous robot that must navigate a complex outdoor obstacle course, staying within lanes, avoiding objects, and navigating GPS waypoints.
  • Self Drive: A separate IGVC challenge where the robot must perform more complex tasks like lane changes, parking, and stop sign detection.

• STORM (Student Tele-Operated Robotics Mission): As both host and competitor, this team focuses on the challenges of tele-operation, sensor integration, and human-machine interface design.

• Combot (Combat Robotics): The newest team, focused on designing and building durable, high-impact robots to fight in "battlebots"-style competitions.