Coming together and testing ideas
Apart from our programs and labs, however, the many student-led clubs within the IE Community also give like-minded individuals a chance to come together and share their passion, taking advantage of the facilities and resources available to drive innovation. At our Robotics & AI Lab, it’s probably no surprise that the IE Robotics & AI Club has come up with some fantastic projects that demonstrate our student’s incredible potential to shape today’s tech—and our whole future with it.
Connecting the club with the world
Keen to showcase their work to the wider IE Community, a team of five Bachelor in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence students created a unique website to promote the IE Robotics & AI Club. Daniel Rosel, Jose Izarra, Zaid Alsaheb, Kye Electriciteh and Yousef Amirghofran described working on the website as “an enriching experience, particularly in advancing web development skills.”
Wanting to strike a balance between technical excellence, ease of use and being informative, the team came up with an engaging and intuitive website that ticks all the boxes. “This project has not only deepened technical skills, but also fostered a greater appreciation for the intersection of web technology and innovative fields like robotics and AI.” Check out their website here.
The long arm of robotics
Some of the projects deliver much more than a physical result. That’s certainly the case with VictorIA, a project that seeks to create a robotic arm capable of playing the popular tabletop game, Connect 4. Alberto Puliga and Pablo Ortega of the Bachelor in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, alongside Ahmad ElBaba of the Bachelor in Data and Business Analytics, conceptualized the project.
The team had to leverage the digital “vision” of a camera and algorithm design to teach the robot arm how to play. Through robotics, they enabled the physical act of the arm picking up and dropping the chips that feature in the game.
“The skills we’ve learned from this project can definitely be used in other robotics or computer vision projects in the future.”
Vera Prohaska
And this is just the start. The students not only plan to perfect their robot so that it can play at different difficulty settings, they are also looking at adding more complex games like chess and checkers to VictorIA’s game list. We can’t wait to challenge it to a game!
A very good “c-AI-nine”
Another exciting robotics project to come out of the Lab is IE University’s first robot dog, Botzo. Gregorio Orlando, Rodrigo Sagastegui and Vera Prohaska are the Bachelor in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence students behind this groundbreaking innovation.
Using real-time processing, inverse kinematics and 3D printing technology, the team was able to achieve dynamic, four-legged motion. Their ultimate aim is an affordable, open-source robot dog and Botzo has progressed in leaps and bounds—quite literally—since the project began; the team is already making plans to develop an improved version that will leverage reinforcement learning, which we suspect will be eerily reminiscent of training a real dog!
“This achievement marks an exceptional milestone for our team, showcasing the power of perseverance, problem-solving and collaborative effort in overcoming intricate technical challenges.”
Vera Prohaska
Back into the digital
Another group of students in the program have come up with a virtual assistant that they say “helps you start and end your day in the best way possible.” From weather updates to music recommendations, news and an integrated calendar, LUNA is designed to elevate the everyday.
Isabel de Valenzuela, Laura Cuellar and Diego Sanmartin tapped into a variety of APIs to build LUNA. Now, they’ve added a chat interface to enhance personalization and track interactions. Their goal is “to continuously enhance Luna, making it an even more adaptive and intuitive virtual assistant that seamlessly integrates into users’ daily routines.”
“The hands-on experience with AI, OpenAI API, and the intricacies of developing a virtual assistant has solidified our understanding of the potential applications and impact of robotics and AI in enhancing daily experiences.”
Vera Prohaska
Inspiring progress
These achievements are exactly what our programs’ practical approach—and initiatives like the Robotics & AI Lab and IE Robotics & AI Club—are all about. Through their guidance and expertise, we’re providing students with invaluable real-world experiences that will help them stand out in the professional world.
See more here.