Robot teams receive awards, advance to international competition

Westside Boiler Invasion team
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The FIRST Championship Competition will be held April 26-29 in Atlanta with about 300 teams competing.

FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, combines sports with science and technology. The 2006 game, called "AIM HIGH," features intense, fast-paced matches that measure the skill of robots and human players. Robots must pick up balls and shoot them into corner or center goals, while human players enter balls into play. Points are scored when robots make baskets in a 54-by-26-foot arena.

Chris Noble, a Purdue graduate in computer integration manufacturing technology, has been involved with FIRST for 11 years.

"I'm working with the Robo-Devils team from Pike High School in Indianapolis now, but I started in the Hammond, Ind. area when I was a high school student," said Noble, who works as an engineer for Cornerstone Controls Inc. in Indianapolis. "When I started, we had 93 teams total, and now we have more than 1,100 teams. It's amazing how the program has grown."

George Chiu, a Purdue associate professor of mechanical engineering, volunteered at the competition.

"The whole purpose of this event is to encourage an interest in science, engineering and technology," Chiu said. "Each year the program has expanded to include more opportunities for students. The Purdue FIRST Program, started in 2000 at West Lafayette High School, has expanded to include Lafayette Jefferson and Harrison high school teams and 12 Lego league teams. The Lego league teams are for the elementary and middle school students where Purdue holds the local qualifying tournament in the fall semester." 

Top-finishing and award-winning teams from the Boilermaker regional event advancing to the national competition are:

• First-place winners: Tyrannikal Mechanikal from Bloomington, Ind.; Golden Flash from Mauldin, S.C.; and B.O.B. from Zeeland, Mich.

• Regional Chairman's Award: TechnoKats from Kokomo, Ind.

• Engineering Inspiration Award: Team Roboto from Anderson, Ind.

• Rookie All-Star Award: Harrrison Boiler Robotics from West Lafayette, Ind.

Other award recipients include:

• Imagery and the Motorola Quality awards: Kil-A-Bytes from Indianapolis.

• RadioShack Innovation in Control Award: Tyrannikal Mechanikal from Bloomington, Ind.

• Xerox Creativity Award: Technical Difficulties from Chelsea, Mich.

• Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award: Team THRUST from Huntington, Ind.

• Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Entrepreneurship and the Website Design awards: Westside Boiler Invasion from West Lafayette.

• Judges' awards: Non-Conformants from Holland, Mich.; and B.O.B. from Zeeland, Mich.

• Regional Woodie Flowers Award: Mark Koors of the TechnoKats from Kokomo, Ind.

• Autodesk Visualization Award: Alex Broerman and the Techhounds from Carmel, Ind.

• General Motors Industrial Design Award: Techhounds from Carmel, Ind.

• Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award: Digital Fusion from Bexley, Ohio.

• DaimlerChrysler Team Spirit and the Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety awards: Golden Flash from Mauldin, S.C.

• Rookie Inspiration Award: Red Alert Team from Greenwood, Ind.

• Highest Rookie Seed Award: MDBots from Muncie, Ind.

• Outstanding Volunteers Award: Stephen Florence, technology teacher from West Lafayette High School; and Amy Przybylinski, Delphi engineer in Kokomo, Ind.

"Being a member of a team has changed the way I think and the way I want to plan my future," said Ismael Almora, a sophomore from Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Ind. and a member of the state's Project Lead the Way program that helps students prepare for a future in engineering and technology. "I like robotics, and this has helped me build something and make new friends."

Nathan Altman, a senior at Carmel High School in Carmel, Ind. and a member of the Techhounds team, has participated in FIRST for four years.

"This program helps you look at something and then think about how to create a working robot — it involves problem-solving, engineering, technology, business, teamwork and other skills," said Altman, who plans to major in mechanical engineering at Purdue next fall. "I had to go to a company where I knew no one and ask them to sponsor our team. So I just walked into AFFCO Machine Sales in Westfield, Ind., and the company sponsored the materials for our team, and I ended up getting an internship from them, too."

Andrea Pluckebaum, a senior at West Lafayette High School in West Lafayette, Ind., worked five hours each night during the six-week period her team had to build their robot.

"It's been fun working with the Purdue mentors because it gave me an idea of what college life is like," she said. "I've definitely learned a lot. We've done everything from electronics to building. I also had to learn time-management skills."

FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway human transporter. The program designs competitions to motivate students to pursue studies in science, technology and engineering. 

Writer: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 494-4192, csequin@purdue.edu

Source: George Chiu, (765) 494-2688, gchiu@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Related news release:
Robot teams face off at Purdue 'sporting' competition

FIRST Robotics Boilermaker Regional Home Page

FIRST Robotics National Home Page

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