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Science fiction comes to life: Northwest teens demonstrate what robots can doFeb 15, 2010 (Moscow-Pullman Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The idea of humans working together with robots sounds like part of a science fiction storyline, but about 150 teenagers from across the Northwest made that vision a reality Saturday in the University of Idaho's Memorial Gym. More than 20 teams of students spent months constructing short, box-sized robots out of metal and plastic parts and programming the technology that makes the machines come to life. On Saturday, they tested just how well they did by pitting their robots against others in games of skill. Tim Ewers, the UI's Extension 4-H youth specialist, said this was the second year the UI hosted the FIRST Tech Challenge. He said "FIRST" stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology." The event was hosted by Idaho ROKS, an effort of the Idaho Space Grant Consortium, UI engineering and education colleges and the UI 4-H Extension. Ewers said the idea behind the program is to get children interested in becoming engineers or scientists early on in their schooling so they can set a plan for their higher education and career. The UI also offers the FIRST LEGO League for middle school students. Ewers said it's all part of a continuum of activities designed to keep students engaged and active in the subject. Ewers said it's kind of like children who grow up playing baseball. They begin by playing T-ball and look forward to moving up to the higher leagues. "They can see the progression," he said. "It's the same way for robotics ... Robotics is so much fun. It sparks the imagination, so kids are excited about it." The FIRST Tech Challenge is structured kind of like a sporting event, Ewers said. The students compete with their robots, but they also observe a philosophy called "gracious professionalism." He said the highest award at the competition takes gracious professionalism into consideration. Ewers gave the example of one team on Saturday whose robot's microprocessor -- essentially its brain -- suddenly died. But a team from another school had a spare part and gave it to the first team so it could still compete. "A typical sports thing would be, 'Oh, you can't play anymore, that's a bummer,'" Ewers said, but FIRST Tech isn't all about the competition, it's about everyone's success and enjoyment. Nick Krenowicz, a senior, and Brianna Tollackson, a freshman, were part of a team of students from Lakeland High School in Rathdrum, Idaho, that entered a ball-playing robot. Tollackson said they built the machine as part of an afterschool robotics program. Krenowicz explained how the robot scoops up plastic balls on the ground and then shoots them back out from one of two different directions depending on the controller's wishes. He said the toughest part about building the robot was "getting everything to work properly." "For the arm (to match up with another moving part), we had to get the timing right to pick (up the ball)," he said. Tollackson compared programming a robot to writing an essay for a class. She said just like a person makes grammatical or spelling errors in an essay, programmers sometimes make mathematical errors. "I think of it as writing a paper, but in more mathematical terms," she said. The FIRST Tech Challenge is also beneficial to UI students. Janel Kerr's technology education students spent Saturday refereeing, judging, setting up and providing technical support to the high school students. "I love seeing what all the teams do," she said. "My students are really excited because one day they will be the teachers of these kids." Ewers said the adult teachers and volunteers who help the high school students with their robotics projects deserve a lot of credit. He said the children are doing all the work, but the adults provide guidance and advice along the way. Alan Sheehan, a junior at Project CDA in Coeur d'Alene, said he and his two teammates, Austin Bates, a senior, and Alex Colby, a junior, built their robot from scratch "without any help whatsoever." But they needed a little help on Saturday and were the beneficiaries of some gracious professionalism from a team from Post Falls High School, who loaned them a battery after theirs malfunctioned. "We're not doing too horrible," Colby said. Sheehan said he doesn't think he wants to be an engineer when he finishes school, but he likes working with metal, so robotics is a natural choice to nurture that interest. "Welding has stuff to do with robotics, like cutting metals," he said with a grin and an enthusiastic hand movement that imitated cutting a sheet of metal in half. Holly Bowen can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at [email protected]. To see more of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dnews.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |