OKBEST 2011
Bugs

The Objective

Design and build a robot to safely handle the bugs and/or food.
Carefully transport them from their current location to one of three
containment areas.

Story Line

A current hot topic of research and development is in the area of
biochemical engineering, specifically genetic engineering. In its
simplest form, genetic engineering involves manipulating a living
cell’s inherited material (or genes) to produce an organism with a
desired trait. This concept is not new; “Traditional breeding” goes
back centuries. Experiments in the 1880s investigated how to make pea
plants produce offspring with specified qualities. However, by 1973
technology had advanced so that DNA from completely different
organisms could be spliced. The initial experiments involved bacteria.
Since then a variety of different organisms have been modified,
including plants, animals, and bugs.

Flies, known to have a very simple genome, were one of the first to be
cloned (Rubin & Sparding, 1982, pp. 348-53), and it became common
place to use the Drosophila fly model in the laboratory to investigate
the role of certain genes. In 2001 the first transgenic housefly was
created, (Hediger, Wimmer, & Bopp, 2001, pp. 113-19) which proved
helpful to study the effects of toxins on the environment (Cross,
Vallacchi, Schock, Wilson, Weber, Eiserich, & Van der Vliet, 2002, pp.
S44-50).

Another use of this technology is genetically modifying bugs to
eliminate disease. Experiments are underway to genetically alter
mosquitoes against transmitting malaria (Corby-Harris, Drexler,
Watkins de Jong, Antonova, Pakpour, Ziegler, Ramberg, Lewis, Brown,
Luckhart, & Riehle, 2010) and dengue fever (Mahr, 2011). Cockroaches
also harbor a variety of diseases and allergens and it may be possible
to eliminate their toxicity through genetic engineering.

A certain species of termites has successfully been engineered to
introduce genes into another colony that would eliminate their
destructiveness (Husseneder, Grace, 2005, pp. 360-7). Termites are
also being investigated to potentially transform biomass into ethanol
(USC School of Engineering, 2007). In short, bugs are seen to hold
promise for eradicating disease, increasing crop yield, as well as
basic research.
It is for these reasons that BEST Genetics decided to investigate
genetically engineering various types of bugs. They put thousands of
man hours and a great deal of capital into creating more advanced
bugs. Everything was on track for some major breakthroughs; that is,
until yesterday. The containment area on three different habitats
failed and some genetically engineered flies, cockroaches, and
termites escaped from the laboratory. This could be catastrophic for
not only BEST Genetics, but for the environment at large. When
introducing a new organism into an environment, there may be
unanticipated side effects that could drastically affect human health
and the surrounding ecosystem. The FDA has insisted that controlled,
longitudinal studies are done before releasing any genetically
engineered organisms into the environment (“New Report”, 2004)
(”Harvest of Fear”, 2001). This was the primary reason why
AquaBounties genetically engineered salmon were not approved for human
consumption (Carollo, 2010). Companies that have not listened to these
warnings have been fined and sued. Therefore, it is imperative that
BEST Genetics captures and controls these bugs as quickly and safely
as possible.

The scientists at BEST Genetics have traced the bugs to an abandoned
shed on the far side of the property at a new construction site.
However, BEST Genetics is not equipped to handle the bug recovery.
They contacted BEST Robotics to rapidly develop a prototype robot to
recover the bugs and avert the potential crisis. Of course, priority
one is to salvage as much of the research work as possible. Since four
types of bugs escaped, BEST Genetics needs at least one of each bug
returned alive. But they are also concerned about the bugs well being,
so it is recommended that the bugs be segregated by type. There are
also concerns that the bugs have not gotten enough nourishment in the
wild, so feeding the bugs should also be a priority. Due to the
potential negative effects the escaped bugs may have on the
environment, BEST Genetics needs a robot to promptly recover these
bugs and place them in one of three Containment Areas (CA). BEST
Robotics is looking for engineers who are up to the challenge to
design and construct robots to recover these priceless bugs.