• FIRST Regionals
• Manitoba Robot Games
• RoboCup UK Regionals
• FIRST Vex Challenge – KUKA Robotics Championship

FIRST — FOR INSPIRATION AND RECOGNITION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

"To create a world where science and technology are celebrated...where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes.”

The words of Dean Kamen, inventor, entrepreneur, and founder of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization rang loudly in the ears of High School students around the country as the 2007 FIRST season kicked off to a roaring start in March and culminated in the 2007 FIRST Championship April 12, 13 & 14 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia (Professor Ken Berry will offer a full report in an upcoming issue of Robot).

The FIRST robotic challenge changes every year, and this year is called Rack ‘N’ Roll. This challenge requires students to pool resources with teams they don’t know and collaborate with other robots to hang inflated ‘inner tubes’ on a rack.  This year’s challenge also consisted of an ‘end game’ where the goal changes in the last few seconds of the game… After struggling to hang as many inner tubes in a row the team’s robot had to rush back to their side of the arena and lift their team-bots 12 inches off the ground.

The FIRST Championship is open to the public and free of charge, as are all FIRST events. Each year, the First Organization invites you to join them as over 500 robots compete on six fields in the Georgia Dome. You will be free to make your way through more than 250,000 square feet of team pits and activities in the Georgia World Congress Center. You will be swept away by the energy of over 10,000 students as you are immersed in the refreshing experience of kids EXCITED about learning! by Brian Nave Photos by Brian Nave and Dallis Gutauckis

by Mark Essenburg

Yes, you read that right. Open to almost any school, group or organization, this contest has been awarding prizes and certificates of achievement to robot enthusiasts from ages 4 to adult for twelve years.

Held this year on March 17th, and 18th, at Tec Voc School in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the event drew 100 contestants. They successfully competed in Japanese tethered sumo, mini-tethered sumo, autonomous sumo, tractor pull, line following, and robo-critters categories.

I arrived on Saturday morning to find a gym filled with well over 100 excited kids, their parents, their friends and their mentors, ready to show off their prowess. Some would go home with some pretty impressive hardware, too. Trophies, prizes, gift certificates, and bragging rights are all at stake here.

After checking in with the organizers, I operated on a tip seeking out John Karpiak and his team from Churchill School. I was told that this was a team to watch, I would not be disappointed. Some members of this team were four year veterans of The Games.

His teammates included Anthony, Colin, Ben and Dashi, who is new to Canada from Liberia. Countless extra-curricular hours have been dedicated by these kids, all of whom had been working hard on their unique and original designs for some time. Knowing the contest’s criteria, and working under the supervision of John, the team worked on individual projects, alongside the group machines that everybody worked on. They were well deployed in the pit area, when I arrived. After a quick tour of blade shapes, wheel configurations and motor sizes, it was time to head down to the floor.

TRACTOR PULL

First event of the day was the tractor pull. A robotic version of the agricultural favorite in which a tractor must pull a weight that drags harder and harder on the ground as the sled it’s on is pulled along. Except here, it’s done with robots.

Task: simply drag the sled 25 feet in 2 minutes, without breaking something important along the way. The winning robot, “The Churchill Bulldog,” was built by Ben with help from Colin, Dashi and Anthony. This 4-wheel drive power house pulled an impressive 72.5 pounds to win the event.

While the tractor pull competitors were busy slugging it out, the sumo rings launched a series of round robin tournaments. This is a popular event both with the students, and with the crowd. Plenty of cheering accompanied the victory of various schools entries.  The local media also turned out in force to take a good look at this event. The news coverage is good, as it increases both awareness of the event, and promotes robotics in general.

COMPETING AGAINST THE CLOCK

All day long, the youngest kids competed against the clock to receive a certificate of achievement for successfully completing the course. Kids as young as age four could drive a bot of their own, or a “house-bot” around a maze sprinkled with little targets that would flash their LEDs when bumped. The robot was a simple tethered affair, with two wheel “tank style” steering. The event had long lineups at times.

The Super Scramble closed out the day’s fun. It’s a tethered event, also held in round robin fashion, where robots must be driven over a variety of differing terrain including deep sand, loose dowels rods, ball bearings and marbles, as well as a variety of hills and bumps. The robots start at opposite ends, and must first catch and then carry a heavy ball bearing all the way along the track, racing your opponent as you go. If you drop the ball, you lose.

The designs emerging in this competition were very interesting, and showed well the ingenuity of the students involved. Decorations are also very important, and some very sparkly robots competed well.

SUMO & LINE FOLLOWING

Due to sumo’s popularity, only qualifying rounds were held on Saturday. The finals were to be held on Sunday. By the end of Saturday, Brennan and Anthony were both qualified to continue and went home anticipating the next day’s excitement.

The following day started with a line follower competition. The courses were very interesting and challenging. I thought I had a cool line follower program until I saw this stuff. I knew there was no hope of my robot coming close to succeeding on the mazes. These kids were beating. The lines crossed one another, doubled back at acute angles and were broken and/or staggered in places. This competition was dominated by the Manitoba School for the Deaf, with their teams winning first and second place!

The sumo rings ran all day on Sunday too, and when the final arrived, Brennan remained undefeated. He would have to beat his opponent more times than normal, because of this. He carefully prepared his robot, they shook hands and began the match. There was a great deal of pushing and shoving as the two best robots of the weekend scrapped it out. The crowd loved it!

At the end of the day, Brennan’s low slung, six wheel drive robot was successful, and his worthy opponent had to settle for 2nd place. One of the rewarding elements of such a contest is to see the elation on the victors face, but Herb Reynolds, Chairman of the Games, as an unpaid volunteer organizer of the event for all 12 years told me that all the participants benefit.

He explained that it was the self-esteem generated in the act of completing something and necessary teamwork skills that is the most important. The students all learn something about robots too, not to mention the enormous fun had by all.

AFTER THE BATTLE

As the pits were emptying, and volunteers were quickly and efficiently dismantling the equipment, I watched as Herb leaned back finally, and rested (briefly) against a table edge. He took a breath, and we talked about robots and kids for a while.

I never saw this guy sitting down, the whole two days. I’m so inspired when I see dedication like that of Mr. Reynolds. He says he’s retired, but he sure worked hard putting this competition together. An anchor on the planning team, he obviously believes in what he is doing. I also never heard him make a negative remark. His upbeat smiling persona is revitalizing, and he always had a moment for everyone.

The Manitoba Robot Games is a well run, exciting competition that extols the virtues of robotic engineering, and is a breeding ground for future roboticists. It is my hope that people like John and Herb continue to fuel the dreams of these young men and women for many years to come.

BRITISH ROBOTICS TEAM TO COMPETE AT ROBOCUP 2007

A Suffolk team of teenagers have won first place at the RoboCup 2007 Secondary Robotic dance competition and have been selected to represent the UK at the International RoboCup 2007 competition to be held in Atlanta, US in July. The RoboCup 2007 UK National Finals took place at Belevidere School, Shrewsbury on Wednesday 28th March. The team worked out of school to put together the robotic performance. The team were inspired by a visit to Matthew Bournes “Swan Lake” at Sadlers Wells.

The team “Swan Song” swept the board not only winning first place but also receiving commendations for best presentation, best robot programming and best robot construction. The “Swan Song” team is comprised from pupils from Amberfield School and Farlingaye School who have been working hard to put together an amazing Swan Lake spectacular dance using the Madness music version of “Swan Lake”. 

The performance involves an enchanted robotic tree that rotates, flashes and lights up magical butterflies, all choreographed to the music.  The tree is programmed in Assembler using PICs. The centrepiece to the dance is a 1.5 metrer high robotic swan. The swan, programmed in “C,” is based on VEX robotic technology and performs a graceful dance alongside the “human” dancers. Two cygnet robots perform a synchronised dance which uses line tracking. The cygnets use the latest NXT robotics kit and are programmed in “C.”  The finals parts to the dance are robotic water lilies on a lake and a nest of baby cygnets both using RCX technology.   The robotic dance represents the true fusion of the creative arts with mathematics and computer science technology.

Members of the “Swan Song” team are no strangers to success in robotics. This January they came in second in robot performance at the National finals of the FIRST Lego League competition held at Birmingham University. Alongside the robotic dance competition also taking place were the finals for the robotic football and rescue classes. Teams had travelled from a far away as the Isle of Wight, Merseyside and Scotland to compete.

Swan Song team members:   Sophie Kennelley, Lucy Homer, Rebecca Hasler, Josie Hughes, Elizabeth Grinnell, Tristan Hughes, Jenny Blay, Genevieve Hughes, Mark Evans

For more information please contact Nicky Hughes, ICT Teacher Amberfield School on 01394 670418 or n.a.hughes@btinternet.com

FIRST VEX CHALLENGE – KUKA ROBOTICS CHAMPIONSHIP

A Snapshot of Teams Competing in the FIRST Vex Challenge

By Eric Brunsell
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

So, what did you do for St. Patrick's Day this year? I, along with nearly 200 high school students, were at the FIRST Vex Challenge – KUKA Robotics Championship in Appleton, Wisconsin. These students fielded 29 robots that they built using IFI’s Vex Robotics Design System platform. Over the course of ten hours, these students participated in judged interviews and competed in nearly 70 2-on-2 robot matches.

The goal of the “Hanging Around” competition was to build a robot that could score points by placing softballs into either high or low goals. Alliances of two robots could increase their score by controlling a 30” diameter “Atlas Ball.” Bonus points were awarded if robots could do a chin-up…suspending themselves above the field from a horizontal bar at the end of the match.

Nationwide, more than 500 teams are participating in the FIRST Vex Challenge’s “Hanging Around” competition (www.usfirst.org). Here are 3 inspiring stories of the next generation of technologists.

The Wired Wolves’ are “hanging around” while their alliance partner, DITEC A.R.M.E. controls the Atlas Ball. Their foe, the Metal Hounds, tries to score by lifting themselves using the corner of the hanging bar.

The Officious Martinets score in the high goal while their alliance partner, T.H.I.N.C. racks up points in the low goal.

Enthusiastic Perseverance

Conserve School’s “Steelers” from Land O Lakes, WI

From the moment this team walked into the morning interviews, their enthusiasm and work ethic caught the judges’ attention. Their robot did not pass inspection (bigger than the 18” cube restraint), their scoring mechanism was the wrong size for grabbing the softballs, and their autonomous mode wasn’t functional. After losing each of their first two matches, they went back to work with a smile. Their modifications, including the ability to score in autonomous mode, paid off as they won their next three matches. They were defeated in their last qualifying match and lost their robot’s arm in the process. Their response – high fiving their alliance partners, picking up their robot pieces, and going back to work.

Their perseverance paid off as they steadily rose in the rankings throughout the day, ending the qualifying matches as the captain for the 8th seeded alliance. Although they lost in the quarterfinals to the number 1 seeded alliance, the judges recognized their efforts with the “Amaze Award.” Conserve School is a small boarding school in a rural Northwoods Wisconsin community.


The team fixes their robot’s arm after a brutal qualifying match.

The team poses with their robot. Chris plans to pursue a career in computer programming, Jaclyn either electrical or mechanical engineering, Ellie a degree in mathematics, auto or civil engineering and Angeles a career in forensic science.

Their robot’s multi-functional arm can score in the high goal and lift itself off of the playing field.

Let’s make it work

Rauner College Prep’s “Big Wheelz” from Chicago, IL

What happens when a future police officer, airplane mechanic and movie director walk into a 1st year charter school? No, this isn’t a set-up for a bad joke. You get a robotics team with the ability to build a competitive robot in a short amount of time! Rauner College Prep is a brand new charter school in Chicago, IL. This competition is the school’s first non-sport related overnight activity. An instructor, Jake Lessem, challenged his students to design and build a competitive robot in only six weeks. Juan, Raul and Rigo were tasked with learning about the electronics system. However, Lessem realized that these three could build their own robot. So, with three weeks left to the competition, Big Wheelz got down to work.

Their first designs were not feasible and their first prototype included an arm that could win a “worlds strongest man” competition, but took 7 minutes to extend! After a crash course in gear ratios, the team designed an arm that could quickly score in the top goal and was strong enough to suspend the entire robot from the hanging bar. By the day of the competition, the team was very self-directed and able to troubleshoot and fix any problem that arose with their robot.

Appleton East’s “Thor-Axe” team selected Big Wheelz as a partner for their 5th seeded alliance because of their ability to reliably score points by “hanging around” at the end of the match. Thor-Axe, Big Wheelz and their partner, Officious Martinets lost in the semi-finals to the number 1 seeded alliance.

Juan, Raul and Rigo brought a diverse set of skills and interests to their task of creating a competitive robot.

Settling for Perfection

Unlike most of the robots at the competition, Syntax Error did not use an arm.

They decided early on that they wanted to use vertical motion. They designed a large hopper that could be lifted vertically using a rack and pinion system. This allowed them to dump balls into the high scoring goal. Since they did not use an arm, they had lots of room within the size constraints for their ball harvester. This system used the Vex tank track accessory as a conveyor system to scoop balls from the ground to scoring position in the hopper.

This was Syntax Error’s third year using the Vex Robotics Design System. They put their experience to work by mentoring a younger team from their school and by helping at least a half dozen teams, their competition, with programming glitches.

Syntax Error ended the qualifying matches as the second seed and was selected by Mainframe Meltdown, also from Saint Mary Central, as a partner on the number 1 seeded alliance. These two teams and their third partner, the Zip Ties, went on to win the elimination tournament. Syntax Error lived their motto, “Settling for Perfection,” by excelling in all areas of the competition and winning the “Inspire Award,” the top award given at the competition.

Andy, Calvin, Josh, Brian and Joe (not pictured) show off their “ball harvester.” The team started building robots three years ago as a project for their after school science club. All of the team members plan on pursuing degrees in engineering or physics.

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