Tehachapi News

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Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!

This year’s Robotics theme, entitled “Overdrive”, has the flavor of a NASCAR feel and spirit for aspiring robot makers across the nation and world.

Prepping for their chance to demonstrate their own robot, the THS Cyber Penguins (also known as Team 585) have revved up their engines and are ‘ready to go’ for the upcoming regional competition.

“Once our programming is complete we should do well, we had a great unveiling (this past month),” said Team 585 president and THS senior Nick Carpenetti. “Time got cramped but we’re looking forward to getting going.”

The Cyber Penguins will be competing in the upcoming regional competition in San Diego (March 6-9) and Las Vegas (March 27-29), with over 340 teams from across the nation set to square off against one another at various regional sites.
 

The goal for each team is the reach the 250,000 square-feet Georgia Dome National Championship in April against other regional winners.

“This competition process has been stressful but fun at the same time,” said Team 585 member Elias Ramirez. “Everyone has been involved and we’ve been working great as a team.”

The first major phase of fabrication and construction has just been completed. The pre-competition requirement is that robots have to be built in a six-week time span from a ‘common kit’ of parts provided by the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) organization, along with some minor additions.
The final robot can weight up to 120 pounds excluding the battery, and must have specific designs to meet requirements of competition. Tehachapi’s robot is ready to meet that challenge.

“We have to make sure that we can do what the competition asks for,” added Carpenetti. “We feel that we can maneuver our robot well. There is a lot of trigonometry involved. For example, on our robot the front drive needs to correlate with the back wheel steering and we have to have a good front lift system, which we think we have.”

The competition itself will require each robot to form alliances with other teams during competition play, with scoring opportunities in various stages. Each robot will be tested on motion and functionality, specifically on the capability to lift and manipulate the movement of a 40”, 7.5 pound ball and ability to run through a pre-designed course.

“We really encourage folks to come out and watch this competition, it is really a neat thing to see,” said THS advisor Randy Jackson. “The event is free to the public. If you have never experienced the excitement of a robotics competition you are really missing out.”

The Cyber Penguins are hopeful that the community can attend the regional in Las Vegas later on this month at the UNLV campus.

As a special promotion, all attendees can receive a discount on ‘Blue Man Group’ tickets at the Venetian Hotel-Casino to a reduced rate of $49 (from $130) along with attending the free ‘Overdrive’ regional robotics competition. For information on the promotion you can contact Randy Jackson at the high school at 822-2730.

For more information on the program, visit the team’s website at www.team585.org and the competition website at www.usfirst.org.

FIRST-Las Vegas Robotics Regional
Location:  Thomas and Mack Center- UNLV
Date: March 27-29
Thursday, March 27, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Robot weigh-in/inspection
10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Practice matches
Friday, March 28, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Opening of Competition 9:00 a.m.
Seeding Matches 9:50 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Awards 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Opening of Competition 9:00 a.m.
Seeding Matches 9:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Final Rounds 1:00 – 3:45 p.m.Awards 4:00 p.m.

ADMISSION TO ALL EVENTS ARE FREE