November 2, 2006

Funky Monkeys and Raging Sea Biscuits take it to the mat

Pioneer hosts 2006 California Robot Games

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

They aim! They shoot! They score! …And the crowd goes wild! Surprisingly, this wasn’t a varsity basketball game, but a FIRST Robotics Competition and these players were 130-pound, 5-foot-tall remote-controlled robots. With names like the Funky Monkeys, Raging Sea Biscuits and Apes of Wrath, the teams came prepared for an exciting competition and a lot of fun.

Pioneer High School received the WRRF Director’ Award for hosting the WRRF 2006 California Robot games. Photos by Lorraine Gabbert

Twenty-four teams competed at the Western Region Robotics Forum (WRRF) 2006 California Robot Games held Saturday at Pioneer High School. Combining elements of basketball, hockey and football, this year’s challenge of creating a robot capable of loading and launching balls through targets required keen strategy and grace under pressure. But beyond winning, it called into play a sense of teamwork, sportsmanship and a mastery of math, science and technology.

“I love it!” said Archbishop Mitty High School student Stephanie Schmitt. “It’s very exciting and a great learning experience. It incorporates math, science and physics as well as concepts they don’t teach you in high school.”

WRRF Vice President Mike Schmitt enjoys watching the students strategize and learn. “The kids gain practical hands on building experience incorporating teamwork and project management,” he says. “They get more of what they would in corporate America, creating a real project with a deadline and budget.”

As the competition heated up, the crowd’s excitement reverberated across the bleachers. Fans shook pom-poms, shrieking with delight and groaning with despair, glued to the action on the field. The teams and their supporters sat together wearing identical T-shirts sporting their logos and team colors, some topping off their looks with wigs and fantastic hats. Archbishop Mitty High School’s lion mascot roared his approval while Woodside and Carlmont
High School entertained the audience with their person-powered dancing orange-and-black hat.

Careening, clashing and occasionally crashing to the ground, the robots battled in the arena with their operators at the controls. The action was kept lively by the rotating rounds, sports announcers, lighting and sound effects, not to mention the screaming crowd. However, it was Mark Leon, NASA’s director of education and the event’s master of ceremonies, who truly excited the crowd. Twirling large flags, leaping upon the set, racing across the field and introducing teams by pounding on plexi-glass, Leon kept everyone fired up and ready for action.

Exchanging offensive and defensive plays, the Red and Blue teams were each made up of an alliance of three teams, which alternately tried to score points or keep their opponents from scoring. In addition to high and low goals, teams gained points by having their robots climb ramps at the close of each round. At the sound of the bell, the robots circled one another, sizing each other up and looking for an opening. Wheels spun, gears whirred, and robot arms took their best shots as balls shot through the air. After a series of elimination matches, 24 teams were whittled down to six.

In the final round, the Red Alliance comprised of Aragon, Archbishop Mitty and Gunn high schools, faced off against Blue Alliance’s West Covina, Bellarmine and California high schools. In the end, West Covina’s RAWC, Bellarmine’s Cheesy Poofs and California High School’s California Grizzlies reigned victorious, handedly winning the competition with a score of 86 to 18.

The crowd is thrilled by the robots’ antics.

According to Mike Schmitt, Bellarmine’s robot was well designed for power and speed. “Bellarmine has a really solid team,” he says. The team not only became one of this year’s champions, but also won the national Chairman’s Award a couple of years ago. For this competition, they collaborated with California High School, located in Southern California. Allied early on, they built their robots to closely resemble each other, sharing CAD designs.

“Seeing the two robots, people might think they cheated,” he says. “However, the rules of the challenge are constructed toward teamwork and their project mirrored what would occur between distant partners in the business world.”

Bellarmine High School student Joman Chu agrees. “Collaborating took a lot of calls, shuttling back and forth and design sharing,” he says. “Combining allowed us to make a super robot. Experience shows that collaboration leads to success.” Chu appreciates the opportunity to work with technology and create tangible results of his team’s efforts.

“We came together to build an actual product that does something,” he says. “It’s an awesome experience.”

Awards comprised of silicon wafers silk-screened with the FIRST logo went to Gunn and Bellarmine as Autonomous Mode Challenge Champions. Palo Alto won the Wacky Award for their design and California High School took the Kit of Parts Creativity Award.

Leland won the Safety Award and Monte Vista took home the Gracious Professionalism prize. Archbishop Mitty, Gunn and Aragon high schools captured the Aim High Finalists Award, and with Queen’s “We Are the Champions” playing in their honor, West Covina, Bellarmine and California high schools accepted the Aim High Champions Award.

With appreciation, the WRRF Director’ Award was presented to Pioneer and Woodside high schools for hosting recent California Robot games.

The FIRST Robotics Program
Founded by Segway Human Transporter inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition is a unique varsity sport designed to show high school students how interesting and rewarding the fields of engineering and research can be. It is Kamen’s vision to create a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes.

According to FIRST, its alumni are more likely to attend college and have a science- or technology-related career. FIRST also offers renewable college scholarships ranging from $5,000 to $40,000 per year.

At the elementary school level, the FIRST Lego League also inspires students to create robots utilizing LEGO MINDSTORMS technology. In both arenas, aided by mentors, students learn a multitude of skills, influencing their course of study and future career decisions.

In the FIRST Robotics Competition each fall, teams form and gear up for spring competition. The robots, which face new challenges each year, are designed and built in six weeks, then shipped off for regional and national competitions.

With highly creative challenges and robots built to match, basic parts are provided for each team to use, but the rest is open-ended with a price cap of $3,500. Last year, the challenge was to stack tetrahedrons, placing three in a row for extra points. The year before, the robots blew balls into a middle goal and hung from a bar suspended 10 feet in the air for additional points.

Preparing for the future
“Watching them work as a team is amazing,” said parent volunteers Deborah and Mark Epperson. “It’s very rewarding,” says Mark. “They learn to analyze, program, prioritize and work under extreme pressure…and that mechanical things aren’t perfect, but can be fixed.”

Through this experience, students also may decide what studies to pursue in college. “It’s enlightening,” says Deborah. “My son decided to be a mechanical engineer. To watch these kids having so much fun in real work applications is tremendous.”

Robots compete in the 2006 California Robot Games hosted by Pioneer High School.

The FIRST Robotics program changed Presentation student Michaela Brant’s life, leading not only to an internship with NASA but a dream of becoming an astronaut. “It’s led me to a lot of opportunities,” she says. “Now I work for NASA in the Robotics lab, which is really exciting. I think girls should get involved in engineering and science. There are job opportunities out there.” As a member of the Girl Scout Space Cookies Team (made up of NASA employees and Girl Scouts from around the Bay Area), Brant was inspired to start her own team at Presentation and will compete with them in the Silicon Valley Regional this year.

Pioneer High School senior and team captain Ryan Epperson, who has gained mechanical, electronic, programming and pneumatic skills through the program, finds the robot games exhilarating. “When you go to a competition it’s like going to a varsity football game,” he says. “You get so excited.”

Finalists at the previous regional competition, Pioneer High School made it to semi-finals this year. Pioneer High School math teacher and team advisor Lonny Weissman believes that in addition to engineering and math skills, one of the most important things the students learn through the robotics program is the idea of team concept and cooperation.

For Weissman, who was previously an industrial electrician, this is a labor of love. As building a robot typically costs between $10,000 and $12,000 per year, he donated $20,000 of his own money to the project. “It’s for the kids,” he says.

“This is the most successful means of getting students interested in math, science, technology and mathematics,” says Leon. “These students work hard, study hard and collaborate. They are going to be our future scientists, engineers and leaders.”