Mechanical Engineering Student Creates Working Portal Turret For Class Project

Posted 05/11/2012 at 10:17am | by Brad Chacos

When you say the words "Class Project," most folks flash back to tedious research papers, MLA-style references and boring talks about Shakespearian characters with Oedipus Complexes. In other words: BOOOOOORING. But school doesn't have to be a snooze-fest! Case in point: Penn State's Advanced Mechatronics class, which sounds like it may just be the coolest course ever. One enterprising mechanical engineering student went after his final mechatronic project with gusto and built a working, talking, tracking and firing replica of Portal's gun turret -- then put it up on YouTube for the world to see.

The project was originally brought to my attention in a Google+ post by BCCHardware's Benjamin Heide. I could tell you about how the kick-ass turret runs on MATLAB and Arduino and it tracks movement via RGB colors, but you'd learn all that by watching the video above and checking out the creator's Reddit thread, anyways -- both of which you should do ASAP. Would I help if it said the turret actually talks?

There still some upgrading to be done; the tracking guns are a bit slow and jerky, and the turret's obviously missing an exterior casing that would give it the full-fledged Portal vibe. Fortunately, the engineer behind the turret says he's already working on all that.

So, whaddaya think: does he deserve an A?

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The Corrupted One

May 12, 2012 at 8:10am

This guy should compete in the DEFCON challenges at Robogames.

Definitely keep the sound effects.

chart2006

May 11, 2012 at 9:09pm

That makes my Mechatronics final project seem lame. Still used Matlab and Arduino but designed a maximum power point tracking system using fuzzy subtractive control (i.e. 2-axis solar tracker). lol

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Strangelove_424

May 11, 2012 at 10:16pm

This links to a scam site whose IP address is 213.229.82.160, which is also the IP address of a dozen or so other scam sites that frequently disturb this forum. The geolocation of 213.229.82.160 points to Berkshire England, and the hosting service is Simply Transit Ltd, some information below:

Simply Transit Ltd

Simply Transit
Acton House, Prediswell Park
WR3 7GD Worcester
UNITED KINGDOM

phone 441628777730
fax 441628639977

Just want to put that out there.

aarcane

May 11, 2012 at 2:03pm

If it can kill reliably in 3-5 shots, he should definitely get that A+. If, on the other hand, it fails miserably when fired, who cares how cool the rest of it is, he fails the structural integrity part. I'd like to see a live fire demonstration.

Also, that jerky motion definitely needs to be improved. He should consult with the Japanese micromouse team (see youtube videos) on how to make smother movements.

RashyNuke

May 11, 2012 at 11:21am

Dear Gabe,

Please make this young man and his team ridiculously wealthy. Oh and show him HL3. He can keep a secret.