| 03/30/2007 |
| NEIT robot competition a 'Vexing' challenge |
| Jessica Selby , Daily Times |
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After several weeks of hard work, students from around the state
will be gathering at the New England Institute of Technology for
the first ever Vex Robotics Challenge. The tasks include picking up a set number of baseball-sized balls and placing them into a 2-foot tall triangular-shaped goal, picking up the same sized balls and rolling them into a floor-level goal, and then latching onto and suspending from a 33-inch high bar. The students' finished robots will go head-to-head against robots from other teams for the highest score. Each task is given different values, so participants were told to consider the task values when constructing their robots. The students from Coventry decided to design their robot with a perfected floor-level goal approach instead of attempting to master all three tasks. According to the students' coach, Jaime Cotnoir, the tech ed teacher at Coventry High School, this seemed to be the smartest approach for them. "Up until now, we have only worked with the Lego pieces when designing robots, so this was all new to us," Cotnoir said. "The kit they provided us only gave us a basic design. The way we wanted to do it to complete the tasks was completely left up to us." "It got a little frustrating in the process, especially with the lift. That is why we finally decided that we would try to focus on one task instead, and do that task really, really well, than try to do all of them just OK," he said. Using that strategy, the Coventry team designed a robot with a maximized platform base, Cotnoir said. The platform meets the maximum size the team was allowed to have in the regulations. Then, Cotnoir said, there are two pinball-like extension levers that open and close in front of the platform. Those levers act like arms, scooping the pile of balls in and onto the platform and the robot then drives them over to the goal. Their strategy, according to the students who built the robot - Alex Carley, Cory Jalbert and Alex Nahigian - is to collect the most balls in one scoop and earn the most points specifically through that task. Students from Tom O'Connor's tech education class at Pilgrim High School in Warwick are also competing in the Vex Challenge. They have taken a slightly different approach in the construction of their robot. These students said they are hoping to win the challenge by perfecting all of their robot's tasks in the challenge. They said they feel they are going to be able to do this because that was the strategy they took in the design of their robot, which has seven motors, tank tracks, a four-wheel drive system and, when in full extension, stands at nearly 36 inches high. The Pilgrim students managed to construct a robot of this magnitude, which gives them a slight upper hand on their Coventry challengers, because they had access to three separate kits, said O'Connor. Each kit, according to O'Connor, costs approximately $600, and each high school that volunteered to participate in the first ever Vex Challenge was provided only one kit. Schools that had access to their own kits or the funding to purchase additional kits could use them if they wanted to complete their robot but were not provided the funding to purchase additional kits. The Pilgrim students also solicited the guidance of several local engineering professionals who served as mentors in the class to help the students with the construction of their robot. Although they said they had at times felt discouraged in the process, four weeks and multiple designs later, the students in O'Connor's class said they are very happy with their final product. Philip Morgan, a senior at Pilgrim who worked on the construction of the robot, was the chief programmer of the robot. He created a computer program that managed to make the robot operate on its own for the first 30 seconds in the competition. According to the scoring categories, this could possibly earn the team from Pilgrim 10 points right off the bat. Lance Magneson, a science teacher at West Warwick High School, is scheduled to take a group of students to the competition as well but could not be reached for comment. This Vex Robotics Challenge was launched with support from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Council, the New England Institute of Technology and the Rhode Island Tech Collective as a means to build science and technology skills in the classroom, according to information provided by the Vex Challenge. The competition is funded with the support of Gov. Donald Carcieri and the state's Economic Development Commission The tournament is designed to be "a high energy event that brings the same energy and community enthusiasm to learning as traditionally found at school sporting events," according to Meghan O'Connor, spokesperson for the Vex Challenge. The event is open to the public and everyone, she said, is encouraged to attend to show their support for the participants in the challenge. The event will take place Saturday at the New England Institute of Technology, located at 101 Access Road in Warwick, beginning at 10 a.m. More information about the event can be found at www.rivex.org.
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