Metro high school students win national robotics contest

[Brandon Martus]

This is really old, but it's still news.
http://www.freep.com/money/tech/robot21_20030421.htm

Metro high school students win national robotics contest

April 21, 2003

BY JOEL THURTELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

It was the ultimate computer game for Phillip Chang.

The Bloomfield Hills 17-year-old is cocaptain of Las Guerillas, a team of 25 students from Bloomfield Hills Lahser and Andover high schools who designed, built and operated a robot in the annual FIRST Robotics Competition championship recently in Houston.

Chang directed the team's 5-foot-tall by 8-foot-wide radio-controlled and computerized robot to slam and bang and knock around enough plastic crates to win top honors.

The Bloomfield Hills team won the national championship in an alliance with two other teams -- the Huskie Brigade of Pontiac Northern High School and WildStang of Schaumburg, Ill. The three teams were grouped after winning top honors in division playoffs earlier.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), based in Manchester, N.H., provided basic mechanical and electrical components for the robots and informed the teams early in the year that the name of the game would be Stack Attack. The contest drew 292 teams from 36 states, plus Canada and Brazil.

Each team had to design a robot using parts supplied by FIRST, said Bloomfield Hills coach Gail Alpert.

The Bloomfield Hills robot has wings that unfold to give it an 8-foot-wide front for bashing stacked crates. Chang ran the controls for the drivetrain and he also activated suction cups that latched onto the playing surface to block the path of opposing robots.

The rules required that the robots operate on computer programs rather than by human guidance for the first 15 seconds of each 2-minute competition.

Professional engineers and technicians served as mentors for the 25 members of Las Guerillas. Lawrence Technical University guides the team's finances, said Alpert.

The robot from Pontiac Northern was "extremely maneuverable and reliable," said Alpert. The robot's main task was to push crates off the playing field so opposing robots couldn't score points.

The Schaumburg, Ill., team's job was to guard the top of the ramp leading to stacked crates, keeping opposing robots away, Alpert said.

"The whole idea behind this program is to grow engineers, technologists and researchers by introducing them at a young age to the possibilities of a career in these fields," said Alpert.

Chang plans to study engineering next year at Michigan State University.

The most exciting part of the competition?

The contest took place in the stadium where the 2004 Super Bowl is to be played. "Being in Reliant Park was really special," Chang said.

For more on FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.







Contact JOEL THURTELL at 248-586-2609 or thurtell@freepress.com.