THS robot team competes in Las Vegas
THS robot team competes in Las Vegas
By: Judi Gardner
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Posted by editor Sat Apr 8, 2006 11:11:42 PDT
Viewed 601 times
0 responses 0 comments After more than six weeks of building and developing their robot, the Tehachapi High School (THS) Team 585 burst onto the University of Nevada Convention center floor to take part in its regional robotics competition.
During the two day competition, THS competed in seven matches and finished nine out of 43 teams. Ending seventh in ranking for the upcoming national competition.
Randy Jackson, THS faculty advisor, said, "The team did a great job and is only getting better."
This year's competition consisted of a three-on-three robot game during which the robots tried to score goals using seven-inch foam balls. Each team had one or two drivers, a coach to direct the driver and a "human player" to feed balls to the robot.
THS designed a robot that shot up to 25 rapid-fire balls into a hoop. The robot’s score averaged eight points and shot with a 90 percent accuracy into the goal.
The 119-pound robot that measured 59.5 inches high also had high-traction wheels, two motors, a four-wheel-drive transmission and a firing mechanism that launched balls from a hopper.
On Thursday, the team unpacked its robot, set up its work area, prepared for inspection and competed in practice rounds.
When the preliminary round schedule for Thursday morning was announced, THS learned it was to compete in an early match. Disaster struck when the robot broke down.
The team quickly pulled the robot into their assembly pit and began working to diagnose the problem.
Tensions were high and Jackson attempted to calm students by telling them to pull together and fix the problem.
"I didn't know what was wrong, but we found out that it was a dead battery," said freshman Steven House.
New problems quickly emerged as an official with the competition became concerned that the robots firing mechanism was dangerous. Students worked feverishly to install safety guards on the chain and other exposed parts. Finally, the robot was ready to compete.
With different alliance partners during the next round, THS went out and won it's first victory.
"As designed, our robot drove over to the goal and shot all eight balls we were carrying to earn our alliance eight points," freshman Trevor Hinch said.
The THS team alliance won most of the remaining matches on Friday, going from almost dead last to number nine in the rankings.
"It was a wild ride for our team going from very last all the way to number six and back to ninth place," THS student, Stacey Jones said.
The team made some last-minute modifications to its robot and competed in a quarter final match. Changes to the robot's software was made to exploit weaknesses in competitors.
"We added code to run our robot into a competitor and defend our goal," said Nicholas Carpenetti, the team's student programmer.
THS was eliminated, but each team member was awarded a medallion for making it to the quarter finals.
"Our robot is very robust and remained upright for all 13 rounds, demonstrating a consistency, spirit and fight in each of those matches," Jackson said.
Following the qualifying rounds, the top eight teams conducted an alliance selection, where they each picked two teams to partner with for the national championship in Atlanta, Ga.
Team member Tyler Nelson, a THS senior, said they did well in “choosing an alliance team that complemented our robot."
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