A competition held by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) invites STEM students in the Southeast Conference to compete at a collegiate level with academic peers. A group of Mechatronic students annually represent the University of North Carolina at Asheville at this conference. The 2019 competition was NASA themed, and held at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. Following the theme of the hosting location, the teams must build an autonomous robot that can maneuver a large square board, avoiding obstacles (i.e. satellites) while collecting spherical and cube shaped blocks (i.e. space debris), sorting the blocks based on color, and then depositing the blocks at their respective locations, all under three minutes. These varying tasks require the knowledge of computer, electrical, mechanical, and control systems and a means unify these systems to achieve the maximum amount of points. The combination of computer vision and a mechanical shelf sorting machine is the most reasonable configuration to complete the requirements of this competition.
