Richmond Times-Dispatch | Students and their machines go head-to-head [VCU Regional]

[Goobergunch]

Robot revolution
Students and their machines go head-to-head

BY ALEX WOOLRIDGE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Feb 24, 2005

Fifty years ago, if you told anyone that people in 2005 would be turning out by the hundreds to "watch the robots," you would have been checked into the loony bin.

But a week from today, when the masses show up at the VCU Siegel Center, they won't be observing the kind of human-crushing robots that terrorized moviegoers in the'50s. They probably won't say funny things like that "Lost in Space" robot did, either. What they will do, just might amaze you.

At 10 a.m. March 3, practice rounds for the 2005 FIRST Robotics Competition begin. The contests, which run March 4-5 at the Siegel Center, constitute the NASA/VCU Regional.

Unlike the menacing machines of sci-fi movies, these robots have been built to most efficiently complete a task chosen by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). And these robots weren't made by mad scientists with pieces from a junkyard, but by teams of high-school students who get the same core parts and follow strict rules meant to foster competition.

"All the robots have identical electronics, identical pneumatics and identical control systems, but other than that the teams are allowed to get the rest of the materials they need to make their robots from outside sources. So no two robots are alike," said Dee Tomczak, a senior mentor for FIRST.

What task will these metallic creatures be tackling? The robots, while under the control of the teams that created them, will move around the field stacking red and blue tetrahedrons (basically, geometric game pieces) on nine goals. The game, called Triple Play, resembles tic-tac-toe, with two alliances of three robots each. To make things more interesting, the robots can "take" goals from one another by tapping the goal with a tetrahedron.

Basically, it's like "American Gladiators" minus the muscles (with some WD-40 for the occasional squeaky joint).

And even though they're all metal and motors, the robots have plenty of heart. The students put in some serious hours constructing each contestant. More than 60 teams worked tirelessly during the six-week period before the robots were due for delivery to the "battlefield," Tomczak said.

"In that time they have to strategize the game, figure out the best way to play that game, conceptualize, design and build," she said. "They have to wire it, program it, test it and learn to drive it . . . and then hope they guessed right from the very beginning."

Overall, there is less focus on the head-to-head aspect of the competition and more on the event being the culmination of weeks of teamwork and guidance from professional mentors. With the help of corporate sponsors and organizations such as Infineon Technologies and the Greater Richmond Technology Council, FIRST hopes to give teens a memorable and fun experience.

"FIRST inspires the next generation of scientists, engineers, technicians and researchers," said Pattie Cook, the regional director for the competition. "We're trying to get kids excited about science and math, because, you know, the old guys are retired, and who's going to invent the new technologies? Who but the kids in high school?

"If you are going to have open-heart surgery or get on the next generation of airplanes, don't you want them to be perfected by the next generation of scientists?"

Science teacher and team sponsor Cheryl Case said her team is comprised of about 10 percent of the Richmond Community High School student body. One of the best things about these FIRST robotics competitions, Case said, is that it gets students with different interests and backgrounds working together.

For instance, senior Xavier Beverly and freshmen Michael Serras are both part of the 405 team, which calls itself "Chameleons." While Serras said he has learned a lot on the technical side of the building process, Beverly said he has become more articulate since communicating ideas to the judges.

"By now they've realized everything's not going to go right the first time," Case said of robotics' learning benefits. "They have the ability to be innovative, to go back and solve a problem."

As competition director Cook was quick to emphasize, it is not just the victorious teams that are recognized at the competition. Twenty awards are given out to recognize things such as best designed and most creative. Eligible robots and teams will compete in the finals in April in Georgia.