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Sports

Firebird Robotics Powers Up at Competition

SMHS students compete in regional event with their own designed and built robot.

The Long Beach Convention Center filled with white smoke and screaming students Friday as a robot from the Los Angeles Regional 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition blew its limit and sparked itself out on the game floor.

was one of 64 schools to participate in the annual competition. Teams, made up of students from robotics and engineering classes or clubs, are given six weeks to design, construct, program, and test their robots before the event. Kits are provided to the schools, along with a video showing the competition game, but students, guided by mentors and faculty, must do all the work. 

“It’s a new robot every year and a different competition, a different game every year,” explained advisor Scott Barton.

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This year’s “Logo Motion” game required robots to maneuver a 27 by 54 foot “field” while blocking and racing one another. Schools played in competing alliances each consisting of three robots, controlled by students using joysticks from behind a clear, safety partition. Alliances competed to hang as many plastic, inflated shapes as they could on to pegs set above the field during a two minute and 15 second match. The higher a team hung a shape, the more points their alliance received.

Each match started with a 15 second Autonomous Period during which robots had been programmed to fetch and place a ring on their own. If successful, extra points were awarded.

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The match ended with robots deploying mini-bots that raced to the top of vertical poles set on the field.  Each mini-bot that reached the top of its pole earned bonus points for the team.

The competition was intense, with robots fighting for shapes and position, sometimes littering the field with metal bits. An energetic crowd filled the stands while students clustered along the sidelines cheering for their alliance and their own robots. Furry school mascots showed their support while rock music pumped up the vibe, far more like a Staples Center sporting event than a high school science fair.

San Marino’s Firebird Robotics felt good about their robot, dubbed Firebird 3. “We have some confidence in our robot. We’re doing pretty well,” student Edrick Wang said. He noted that the team placed 15th out of 61 schools at a previous competition in San Diego.

Firebird 3 was capable and successful, its mini-bot scoring a maximum number of points. “This is extreme happiness,” team member Audrey Chu smiled after watching her robot and team perform well.

“It’s been good,” agreed teammate , participating for a second year.  “I really like the atmosphere.  It’s sort of like a sports event.”

Behind the scene, teams set up in a pit area where students worked like NASCAR crews on the their robots. Surrounded by tool chests and banners, teams used their spaces to fine-tune and repair their robots, problem-solve, and just hang out. Safety goggles were mandatory and signed out on an honor system to visitors.

Some teams were more heavily funded than others--one is rumored to have a Hollywood movie deal in the works--a piece of the competition not lost on students. But instead of discouraging San Marino, it encouraged them. 

“It’s all about inspiration,” Chu said happily. “Making the best of what you have in the engineering world. We know what we can do and we are pushing our limits.”

And it wasn’t just about the competition. Teams traded buttons, bracelets, and t-shirts. “Gracious professionalism” is a major part of FIRST’s philosophy, with a board set up in the pit area for teams to post what good deeds they’ve witnessed, such as the sharing of tools, parts, and knowledge. Wild applause filled the space when the previously smoking robot rose from the ashes and scored heavily in its match.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is part of NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project which aims to encourage student interest in study and careers in robotic systems, and offers scholarships and college funding opportunities.  Jet Propulsion Laboratories sponsors 11 teams, including SMHS Firebird Robotics. Winning teams go on to compete in the FIRST Championships to be held April 27 – 30 in St. Louis.

See more photos and video of the weekend competition here. Thanks to parent Raymond Kwan for posting the photos and video.

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