High school students from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute put their robots to the test recently in a competition at Shaffer Hall on the Homewood campus. The wooden vehicles, each equipped with batteries, sensors, computer chips and motors, were assembled by 14 students in a four-week summer course sponsored by Hopkins' Whiting School of Engineering.

The vehicles, which were not radio-controlled, had to navigate around obstacles and make their way toward an infrared beacon. With a timer running, each robot had to locate and knock down several beacons.

Brandis Matthews, a participant in the JHU/Poly Robotics Summer Program, takes a picture as one of the student-made wooden vehicles steers itself toward a beacon.

Hopkins faculty members and recent graduates provided technical help to participants in the JHU/Poly Robotics Summer Program, which was launched five years ago. The university obtains the funding, and Poly students attend tuition-free.