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Local Homeschoolers Win Robotics Competition

By Mei-Jing Bernard and Linda Bernard
Each spring, FIRST robotics has a competition that brings together high school students passionate about science and technology. In this year’s game, Ultimate Ascent, teams across the nation and several foreign countries built robots that shoot frisbees into goals and that can climb a ten-foot pyramid. Each team allies with two other teams (an alliance) to play as one team in randomly assigned matches. Georgia Tech’s Team Reboot 4080, part of a three-team alliance, competed at the Peachtree Regional competition March 14-16, and was fortunate to win and progress to the world competition to be held in April.
Each robotics team has student members ages 14-18 as well as mentors who are either teachers, scientists — or in Team Reboot’s case, Georgia Tech engineering students — who volunteer for the team. In January, teams were given the challenge from the FIRST organization. Deadlines are tight, so the thinking and design process begins immediately and means lots of planning and discussion before the building begins. Students design the robot, manufacture the parts, assemble the robot, wire, and program it all before the six-week end-build date when robots have to be completed and all building stops.
At the competition, FIRST judges determine if your robot is within the limitations set by the organization and if it meets all the guidelines. If there are problems or changes that need to be made, teams have their tools, parts, and expertise to make the changes on the spot and are not allowed to compete until they pass inspection.
Before and during the matches, teams scout each other out, ask questions, and learn from each other as they develop alliances. During the actual competition, students control the robot from behind protective Plexiglass and learn to make adjustments to the way the robot performs as the game proceeds, adapting on the fly. Team members learn to strategize, too, since it is important to articulate your team’s strengths and weaknesses before and during the matches. Even more important is to know the strengths and weaknesses of both three-team alliances.
Students learn commitment, time management, teamwork, CAD software, using shop tools, and much more. They learn gracious professionalism, too. Teams win awards for their websites, outreach, originality, design, team spirit, and cooperation with other teams.
If you have never attended a competition, it is truly an exciting event, with lots of cheering, costumes, music, entertaining activities, and just plain fun. Robots “come alive” as they race across court to gather frisbees or slam into the opposing alliance’s robots to prevent them from shooting, or position themselves to shoot frisbees, and this year, line themselves up under the pyramid to make the climb and hang until the buzzer sounds and the match is over.
At the regional competition, Team 4080 moved up from a ranking of 22 out of 60, to a seventh-seeded alliance, then upset the judges’ expectations to win an exciting 2-out-of-3 match against the second-seeded alliance. Team Reboot, along with two other teams on their alliance (Global Dynamics 4026, Decatur High School; and Category 5, Team 3489 from South Carolina), now heads to St. Louis from April 24 through April 28 for the world competition representing the Southeast against teams from Canada, Mexico, and the Netherlands, as well as representatives from other parts of the U.S. and Europe. While they hope to bring home another trophy, they are also excited to be competing with these teams and developing more alliances – and friends – across the globe. If you would like more information, please visit www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc or www.facebook.com/pages/Reboot-Team-4080.
Editor’s Note:Mei-Jing is a 16-year old and one of ten homeschoolers on the team. She lives in the SAND neighborhood and this is her second year on the Tech Reboot 4080 team.
 


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