Categories
STEM

Inspired by STEM

On Saturday, January 25, the Lakehill Bionicles participated in its second FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifier for the year at Woodrow Wilson High School. This event was their last chance to advance to the North Texas Regional Tournament. Being close to home, the team had several Lakehill families, students, and staff in the audience cheering them on.

The students began with the Judges’ panel, which boosted their confidence. After their robot, Mata Nui, passed inspection, the rest of the day was filled with match play and additional interviews with judges. The Bionicles ended match play with a 3-2 record.

Importantly the FIRST organization not only values the students’ and robot’s performance in match play, but also the valuable learning experience that happens when the team put hours upon hours of work into their robots. This hard work is rewarded through the judged awards. According to FIRST, “The judged awards give us the opportunity to recognize Teams who embody important values like Gracious Professionalism®, teamwork, creativity, innovation, and the value of the engineering design process.” They also value the teams spreading the word about FIRST, robotics, and STEM concepts. At each tournament, the team gives a prepared presentation in front of a panel of two to three judges going over their design process and outreach activities. The students also turn in an Engineering Notebook that extensively documents every idea and outcome the students have encountered. The judges pay special attention to how the students iterate creative solutions using math, science, and design concepts. The judges want to hear every detail of the students’ journey, from ideas, to roadblocks, to solutions. The judges also look for how the students communicate the mission of FIRST to their communities, become involved with other teams, and get others interested in FIRST, Robotics, and STEM. The students communicated their journey in the judges’ panel, Engineering Notebook, and several impromptu interviews with the judges throughout the day.

The Bionicles placed in three of the five main award categories. The team earned the runner-up for the Design Award which focuses on industrial design from both an aesthetic and functional perspective. The Bionicles were also awarded runner-up for the Collins Aerospace Innovate Award focusing on innovation and out-of-the box ideas. The team was honored a third time as the runner-up for the Think Award, which focuses on the engineering design process, especially the underlying science and mathematics of the Robot design and game strategies.

The final award given was the prestigious Inspire Award. According to FIRST, the Inspire Award is, “given to the team that best embodies the ‘challenge’ of the FIRST Tech Challenge program. The team that receives this award is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs and a role model FIRST team. This team is a top contender for many other judged awards and is a gracious competitor. The Inspire Award winner is an inspiration to other teams, acting with Gracious Professionalism® both on and off the playing field. This team shares their experiences, enthusiasm, and knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community, and the judges. Working as a unit, this team will have showed success in performing the task of designing and building a Robot.”

Receiving first place in the Inspire Award is the highest honor at a First Tech Challenge tournament, and is the first spot that is guaranteed advancement to the North Texas Regional tournament. The emcee began to read the pun-filled (as required by FIRST) announcement of the Inspire Award winner. “Things went swimmingly for this team today. They shined like the yellow sun bright and well crafted. We were buzzing with excitement about this transformative team. Team 14904, the Lakehill Bionicles!”

The Lakehill Bionicles will advance to Regionals and once again compete for a chance to attend the World Championships in Houston, Texas in April. The North Texas Regional Tournament will take place on Saturday, February 15, at Wylie East High School. In addition to the Regional Tournament, the Bionicles will be taking part in the TAPPS Robotics competition in Waco on March 30.

The Lakehill Bionicles are continuing their work to make their robot, teamwork, documentation, and presentation even better. The team is grateful to Lakehill faculty, staff, and families for their continued support of the Lakehill Bionicles.

Learn more about FIRST Robotics and the FIRST Tech Challenge.

Categories
STEM

Rover Ruckus: Lakehill Students Prepare for Lift-off in Robotics

By Jennifer Herta, Robotics Teacher/Computer Science Chair
Lakehill Preparatory School

It is now almost cliche to say “computers are everywhere.” But what might not be as readily noticed are the numerous computer-connected devices that can be set to complete tasks  autonomously. Internet-connected lights, locks, and air conditioning can run routines that you prescribe. Once only dreamed of in The Jetsons, an iteration of Rosie the Robot Maid exists in the form of robot vacuum cleaners. Autonomous cars are being tested on our roads. Recently, engineers at Google created an AI that could beat the top Go players in the world–a feat thought impossible a few years ago (check out the documentary AlphaGo, it’s a treat!). In the film Jurassic Park, the raptors’ ability to open doors is shown as a leap of intelligence. Boston Dynamics recently achieved this seemingly simple but quite difficult feat by creating a robot that can open doors. Artificial intelligence is a field with much buzz surrounding it.

 

In a world where the existence of robots and AI will continue to become routine, the students of Lakehill can benefit from the exploration of these fields by incorporating robotics into their studies. For this reason, we have started our inaugural year of Lakehill Robotics by competing in FIRST Robotics First Tech Challenge. I chose FIRST because it is an organization that not only fosters students’ appreciation and abilities in STEAM fields, but also fosters a sense of ethical responsibility–which is quite important when determining the trajectory of future AI and robotics technologies. FIRST subscribes to two trademark philosophies. The first is Gracious Professionalism®, which entails the idea that “fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions.” Second is Coopertition®, which is a portmanteau of cooperation and competition. Yes, we will compete fiercely, but we will help each learn and grow along the way.

 

We recently attended our first kick-off event for FTC Robotics. The event revealed the details of this year’s theme: Rover Ruckus. Each year’s theme has some real-world correlation. This year, our intrepid explorers will be tasked with creating a Mars rover that will launch from the lander and collect samples of gold and silver unobtanium. At the event, the students were a bit intimidated by the fervor of their competitors–but I am certain with a few “wins” overcoming the obstacles of creating our robot, they too will have that same level of excitement. In addition to the STEAM concepts the students will learn, the most important lessons will involve teamwork, problem solving, and grit. It is imperative for our students to learn how to experiment, fail, and persevere. I look forward to learning these important lessons with my students this year in FTC Robotics.