Redbird Robotics team members put the finishing touches on their competition robot at Allentown High School on Feb. 18. For story, see page 34. ERIC SUCAR staff Allentown High School students are ready to demonstrate their engineering prowess, innovation and teamwork in a raucous robo-game.
Redbird Robotics Team 1807 will compete against 61 teams from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, California Canada, Turkey and Brazil on March 4 and 5 in the 2011 New Jersey For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton.
The competition inspires students to get more involved with math, science, engineering and technology by building a robot from scratch to compete in various arena games. There are rewards for design quality, sportsmanship, competitive play and the development of partnerships among schools, businesses and communities.
This is the sixth year thatAllentown High School has participated in the competition, according to Redbird Robotics adviser Robert Wicks. This year’s team is the largest in the school’s history, with 25 members, including three females, Wicks said. Lori Feibus serves as the team’s co-adviser.
Over the past six weeks, students worked with professional mentors Ronald Auth, of Monroe, Alex Michalchuk, of Allentown, and Roger Gravatt, of Upper Freehold, to design a robot using a kit of parts and a standard set of rules.
“This year they had to create a robot that picks up tubes in the shape of the FIRST logo and hangs them on one of three levels,” Wicks said.
Sophomore Tyler Gravatt, 15, and junior Kyle Rose, 16, helped construct a robot with a telescopic arm that deploys a mini-robot for climbing poles. Both students want to become mechanical engineers and joined Redbird Robotics to gain experience in engineering. The effectiveness of the robot they helped build will be judged during the upcoming competition, during which two alliances of three teams will compete on a 27- by-54-foot playing field with poles, attempting to earn points by hanging as many triangle, circle and square pieces as possible. Bonus points will be earned for each piece assembled to form the FIRST logo. Robots can also earn points for having their mini-bots climb vertical poles.
Top: Sophomore Tyler Gravatt works on the Redbird Robotics team’s machine at Allentown High School on Feb. 18. Bottom: Junior Alex Hoover (l) and freshman Steve Mikulak review the inner workings of the robot. PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Last year, Redbird Robotics finished the regional competition with a record of 7-2. Two years ago, the team won the regional competition and advanced to the national competition in Atlanta, Ga. This year, the teamhas its sights set on advancing to the national competition in St. Louis, Mo.
Redbird Robotics programmers senior Zach Terry, 17, junior Brian French, 17, and senior Brandon Schur, 18, have to make sure the robot responds to the communications its human drivers give it while in the arena. If the robot does not understand a command, it couldwind up moving around in circles or responding with other detrimental movements. According to Terry, the team’s 2007 robot started dancing in the arena. While the programming error set the team back in the competition, it made the robot a crowd favorite, Terry said.
The team’s overall success depends on much more than programming and engineering skills. Robotics team members are also responsible for fundraising, accounting, logistics, public relations and graphic design. This year, they partnered with sponsors Bristol Myers Squibb, Gravatt Straw and Hay, and the Martens family. “Everyone has to work in cohesion, or you’re really not going to accomplish anything,” Terry said.
French said the robotics club is a team effort from start to finish.
“I like watching what happens when you take all of us together to do what not one of us could do by ourselves,” he said.
With more student participation and parent and mentor involvement than ever before, the team hopes this year to improve on its most successful season in 2009 when it won the New York regional competition.
“It’s exciting to be on the field when you win. It’s very loud,” Terry said.
FIRST promotes friendly competition by encouraging teams to share information and problem solve through online forums before the season starts and then by having teams work together on the field before squaring off for the champion title.
Beyond the learning experience of the build and the thrill of the competition, students who participate in FIRST are also eligible to apply for over $14 million in scholarships from leading universities, colleges and companies.
Competitions are free and are open to the public. For more information, visit usfirst.org.