From science projects to the engineering bench

Abstract

The CISSRS surgical LEGO robot competition gives high-school students hands-on experience. The CISSRS Surgical LEGO Robot Competition leverages the increasingly multidisciplinary field of surgical robotics and the versatile but easy to learn Mindstorms system to introduce participants to CIS by giving them hands-on experience in solving real-world, cutting-edge science and engineering challenges in a fun and exciting environment. Over the course of a "long" weekend, participants with little or no computer or engineering experience can learn the necessary skills to design, build, program, test, and demonstrate a robot that performs a realistically simulated surgery.