UBC students compete to build best burger-serving robots

Engineering students at UBC took part in a unique cooking competition Thursday, attempting to assemble salads, burgers and fries using autonomous robots.

The world-cup-style tournament was the culmination of the students' work in an introductory course in advanced technology development for UBC's Engineering Physics program.

Professor Andre Marziali, the program's director, told CTV News the course always ends with a robotics competition.

"This is, effectively, the final exam for the first course we have in advanced technology for our students," Marziali said.

"They're using microprocessors, sensors, motors to do some complicated task. The one we've set this year is the most complex we've ever done."

This year's competition was inspired by the video game "Overcooked." The roughly 60 students worked in teams to create two robots that could work together to make and serve as many meals as possible.

The tournament began with a group stage, with the top performing robots from each group advancing to a knockout round and a single team crowned the champions at the end.

"I think people learn best when they're having fun," Marziali said, adding that the exercise of building and programming the robots teaches students skills they'll use professionally in the future.

"It's the same technology that'll go into a Tesla, that'll go into even something like a Dyson vacuum cleaner," he said. "The prototyping skills and design skills they take out of this course will apply to almost any advanced technology."