WATERFORD — For every one of Professor Bill Keat's children, it's a rite of passage. And for his students, it's a way of passing.
Either way, the game of mini-golf that wended its way through Pirate's Hideout on Monday was meant to be a test of human versus machine. All three of the Keat kids, when they reach kindergarten age, have found themselves at the putt-putt green where they play a round against robots built by their father's students. In the first outing, Keat's daughter Joy won. On the second, his son, Ian, lost. On Monday afternoon, it was 6-year-old Gracie's turn.
"I have a project every year for my students," said Keat who teaches mechanical engineering at Union College. "This will be the last time the robots play mini-golf because Gracie is my last one."
It was impossible to predict the outcome of Gracie's game. While the robots were struggling with broken gears or other issues, Gracie seemed more interested in the flower beds. Still, the students were adjusting screws, lining up shots and enthusiastically rooting for both Gracie and the robots – clapping for each sunk ball as if it were the Masters.
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Photo: Lori Van Buren, Albany Times Union
Gracie Keat, age 6, makes a putt as she plays miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. She was competing against robots controlled and made by Union College students. The students are in her father Professor Bill Keat's mechanical design class. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessGracie Keat, age 6, makes a putt as she plays miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. She was competing against robots controlled and made by Union College students. The
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Union college senior Dan Giroux of Ballston Spa controls the robot Fiona to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. The robots controlled and made by Union College students were competing against their professor Bill Keat's 6-year-old daughter Gracie. The students are in Keat's mechanical design class. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessUnion college senior Dan Giroux of Ballston Spa controls the robot Fiona to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. The robots controlled and made by Union College
... more
Union college students control robots to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. The robots controlled and made by Union College students were competing against their professor Bill Keat's 6-year-old daughter Gracie. The students are in Keat's mechanical design class. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessUnion college students control robots to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. The robots controlled and made by Union College students were competing against their
... more
Gracie Keat, age 6, makes a putt as she plays miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. She was competing against robots controlled and made by Union College students. The students are in her father Professor Bill Keat's mechanical design class. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessGracie Keat, age 6, makes a putt as she plays miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. She was competing against robots controlled and made by Union College students. The
... more
Union college senior Dan Giroux of Ballston Spa controls the robot Fiona to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. The robots controlled and made by Union College students were competing against their professor Bill Keat's 6-year-old daughter Gracie. The students are in Keat's mechanical design class. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessUnion college senior Dan Giroux of Ballston Spa controls the robot Fiona to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. The robots controlled and made by Union College
... more
Gracie Keat, age 6, center, watches as senior Dan Giroux of Ballston Spa, right, controls the robot Fiona to make a putt as they play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. Gracie was competing against robots controlled and made by Union College students. The students are in her father Professor Bill Keat's, standing behind her, mechanical design class. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessGracie Keat, age 6, center, watches as senior Dan Giroux of Ballston Spa, right, controls the robot Fiona to make a putt as they play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y.
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Gracie Keat, age 6, has her putter picked out and is ready to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. She was competing against robots controlled and made by Union College students. The students are in her father Professor Bill Keat's mechanical design class. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessGracie Keat, age 6, has her putter picked out and is ready to play miniature golf at Pirate's Cove on Monday, June 11, 2018 in Waterford, N.Y. She was competing against robots controlled and made by Union
... more
Girl vs. Robot: Mini golf game's a family tradition
One thing Gracie had over the robots was her energy. While the robots, designed from scratch by senior engineering students, were slowed by weight, seized gears and or locked wheels, Gracie flitted around with a carefree attitude – hitting the ball, sometimes off the green – with abandon.
Mark Marzotto of Great Barrington, Mass., was team captain for Big Bertha, which took 10 weeks to build. He wasn't sure Big Bertha was going to make all six holes that she was tasked to play.
"We are just trying to limp through," he said.
Fiona and the Little Engine that Could, the robots that played the other 12 holes, appeared in finer shape. Fiona, on her first green, sunk the ball in two shots.
One of her makers, Dan Giroux of Ballston Spa, said his team was concerned for Fiona's weight. That's because the team chose mecanum wheels, which gave the robot more maneuverability. They also helped it to climb the little rises on the mini-golf course.
"I don't think it's holding us back," Giroux said of Fiona's heft early in the match.
"I expect the match to be very close and would give the slight edge to the machines," Keat said. "If one or more of the machines break down before the end of the match, Gracie will win decisively."
She did, with a final score of 87 to 71.
"Once again, humans are better than machines," Keat said.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Girl-vs-Robot-Mini-golf-games-a-family-tradition-12985342.php
