Playing Robot Games

By Heather Holliday I November 22, 2004

Competition was fierce as pairs of student-built robots faced off to move CDs, climb stairs and push miniature chairs on Saturday, Nov. 13, at The Preuss School. The San Diego middle school students each attempted to get their robot to complete more tasks than the others in order to qualify for state championships.

John Rauch, chief scientist of the Nutrek Company and a judge for the day, discusses Gaby Alvarez's and Kyle Norquist's robot with them. Alvarez and Norquist, both Pruess students, joined an after-school club and were mentored by the high school's Robotics Team for the competition.

Created from LEGOs, the students' robots, which looked like small automobiles, were set down on a Challenge Field, an obstacle course on a mat surrounded by border walls. The robots then had a specified amount of time for each attempted mission. Three referees, all UCSD undergraduates, stood by to oversee the competition. Nine judges, including professional engineers, evaluated the extensiveness of the students' research, as well as the design and programming of the robots.

The event was the culmination of the two months that each team spent researching, designing and developing their robots. "At a young age students learn problem-solving skills and they interact with basic levels of engineering and technology," said Allison Liewer, regional director of FIRST LEGO League, commenting on the positive aspects that students gain from the competition. "Plus, they have fun at these competitions, which are really more like high-tech sporting events."

Irving Horne, a Preuss student, tests his robot while Referee Garette Wong looks on.

In the end, the team called Lego Pros, from University City, beat out the other eight robots in the overall tournament when their robot moved a ball into a ring on the field. The Lego Pros will participate in the Dec. 4 state championships at LEGOLAND in Carlsbad.

The tournament is part of the FIRST LEGO League program, an international program created by the LEGO Company and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a multinational nonprofit organization that aspires to make science, math, engineering and technology cool for kids. In 2003, over 43,000 children from 14 countries participated in the program.

Each September, the FIRST LEGO League announces its annual challenge, which this year is called "No Limits." This year's focus is meant to inspire teams to design and create technology to help people who face physical challenges in their everyday lives.

Once charged with a mission - and a host of rules and regulations - students from fifth to eighth grade build robots from LEGO bricks and elements such as sensors, motors and gears. Through the process, students gain hands-on experience in engineering and computer programming principles as they construct and program their robots.

A Preuss student releases a robot so it can make its way to a pair of glasses and then, hopefully, move the glasses to a designated spot on the field.

At the San Diego regional competition, seven awards were given to recognize such things as best creative design, most dependable robot, and greatest understanding of issues involved with the "No Limits" project.