Chapter News IEEEthe On RAS Ethics Joinsofthe Research and Practice in Robotics Winter Challenge and Automation in Latin America By Raja Chatila T he IEEE Robotics and Auto- mation Society (RAS) Student Branch Chapter at the Federal University of Technology Celso Suckow da Fonseca, Brazil, used funding received through an RAS Chapter Initiative Grant to support several robotics projects tailored for the Winter Challenge competition in Latin America. Dozens of volunteers assisted in the project by providing support in such technical fields as electronics and programming and by offering management skills. Members of the Chapter visited elementary schools to give students a glimpse into the world of robotics and related technology (Figures 1-2). Monthly visits were made to different schools in Rio de Janeiro. The Winter Challenge teams (Fig- ures 3-4)-divided into categories relat- ed to mechanics, electronics, and pro- gramming-worked on the following robots: ● Mini-Sumo: This fully autonomous robot measures 10 × 10 cm and has a mass of up to 500 g. It is intended to be programmed to perform like a Japa- nese sumo wrestler and overthrow an opponent in a dohyō, a fighting arena. For this robot to perform properly, teams must focus on mechanics, elec- tronics, and especially programming. ● Pro Line Follower: The objective of this autonomous robot is to follow a path determined by a line. The robot that completes the route in the least time wins. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2018.2873028 Date of publication: 12 December 2018 Figure 1. Members of the Federal University of Technology Celso Suckow da Fonseca IEEE RAS Student Branch Chapter in front of an elementary school they visited. Figure 2. The chair of the Federal University of Technology Celso Suckow da Fonseca IEEE RAS Student Branch Chapter (left) showing robotic devices to children. december 2018 * IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE * 123