Mowing Robot Takes Top Prize at UTA Innovation Day Contest

The third annual event showcased the creativity and inventions of young entrepreneurs.

Students from the University of Texas at Arlington and North Texas high schools went nose-to-nose in a Shark Tank-style competition at Monday’s third annual Innovation Day at UTA.

Three UTA teams and 16 high school teams were presented with a problem and challenged to come up with a solution, which they pitched to a panel of judges, according to a report in The Shorthorn.

“Inventors don’t have to be old, and kids usually have the most creative ideas.”
Colton Sustaita-Robb

The young entrepreneurs presented everything from a phone app for frequent fliers to rent cars, to window blinds that work using light-sensing technology, CBSDFW reported. 

“Inventors don’t have to be old, and kids usually have the most creative ideas,” Colton Sustaita-Robb, a 16-year-old inventor, told CBSDFW.  “As you get older, you lose your creativity because you’re more structured and thinking.”

MOWBOT, A ROBOTIC MOWER WITH GPS TRACKING

The winning team was Harmony Science Academy in Dallas. Their solution was MowBot, a robotic mower with GPS tracking. It maps your lawn using a computer algorithm to identify the most effective path to cover the entire lawn while using the least amount of resources. Each team member walked away with a pair of Beats headphones.

Along with the competition, the event showcased the inventions and discoveries the students and faculty been working on over the past year.


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