As I wrote about yesterday, we went to the Kettering FIRST competition this past Saturday. It was incredible fun. However, as much fun as the game was and as fascinating as the robots were, even more fun and interesting were the students behind the robots.

We had a chance to walk around the “pit” area, where students and their mentors would do final adjustments to their robots, and where they would keep the robots between rounds.

We spoke to a lot of students there in the pit, and found out just who these kids are and why they build these robots, how long it took and how they came to choose their particular robot design.

I spoke to Richard Pease of Grand Blanc’s team, the EngiNERDs. When asked why he got into robotics, he said, “I always messed with stuff when I was little … my dad kept telling me about Lego robotics but never really wanted to do it. And then my friend in one of my tech classes … was telling me about it. So I joined in … and it has been fun ever since.” So what does Richard want to do later in life? “Hopefully electrical engineering, maybe NASA …  might start my own business. ”

Tod LaBelle from Saginaw said, “I love engineering, it’s really fun. And thinking like that is what I want to do. And so this got me into it and made me think harder, it was just a lot of fun.” Kevin is also interested in electrical engineering.

“I’ve always been interested in engineering, my uncle was an engineer.” said Kevin Anderson of Okemos High School. Kevin is in his third year on team. “It’s just a really great experience being on the team, working together, getting whole different types of tastes in engineering all in the same club.”

The engiNERDs and their robot

As mentioned in yesterday’s article, every team seemed to gravitate toward either a turret or dumper style of robot. However, how they reached that point and the mechanics of each robot varied wildly. Here is the impressive part: These students only had 6 weeks to design and build their robot!

The EngiNERDs started out looking at ways to manipulate the ball. They did trials based on multiple designs before determining which worked the best for them. The turret can shoot from 5 feet out or just drop the ball right into the trailer if they are up-close. So how did they use their 6 weeks? The first 2 weeks was coming up with a design. The rest of the 4 weeks was constructing the mechanical skeleton of the robot. They had about 3 hours to put in about 90% of the electrical system.

Kimberly Marquette of Capac’s Metal & Soul team said that they wanted something similar to a conveyor belt in their robot for picking up the balls, but didn’t want to use an actual conveyor belt. So they ended up using paint rollers with Velcro on them that would spin at high speeds. So when the robot encountered balls it would pick them up, pull them to the top of the robot, and then be ready to use against their foes.

The Phoenix team from Saginaw had a very wide bottom for picking up a lot of balls at once. It uses a conveyor belt to pull the balls right to the top so that the dumper mechanism has what it needs to drop the balls onto their target’s trailer.

Okemos also looked at a lot of designs. At first they looked at trying to hold a lot of balls, but in the end went for a more compact design that was faster and had more scoring options available to them. Their robot was a sort of turret/dumper hybrid. While it has a turret for aiming, rather than shoot the balls out, it can instead dump the balls in the specified direction.

Every team had a different solution for what the game had to offer them. It was incredible to see all of these different robots and to hear how they were designed. The students clearly had a great time building them and then ultimately competing with them.

Metal and Soul with their robot

So why does Kettering University put on this event for the High School students?

Kettering University (formerly known as GMI) is a top engineering school that is ranked nationally #1 for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and #2 for Mechanical Engineering. So having a FIRST competition is a natural fit. Additionally, it makes high school students from Michigan and nearby locations aware of the programs that Kettering has to offer.

According to Bob Nichols, the founder of the FIRST games at Kettering and the Director of External Affairs, an incredible 20% of incoming classes at Kettering are FIRST alumni, with that figure going up every year. So clearly the students become aware and decide to attend. Mr. Nichols also points out that events like these can sometimes be what really gets the kids interested in engineering as they really realize what they can do. This program is so successful that for the second year in a row this kickoff has had 42 teams, which is a sell-out.

So how does Mr. Nichols describe the matches? “I’ve always compared this to NASCAR because they are in the pits working between matches. It is just like a NASCAR race, because you get a break, go back to the pits, work on your robot, get ready for the next match.

So how do they put this all together, “We have an extremely loyal volunteer committee. I don’t do this all myself. There is no way in the world I could.” said Mr. Nichols. “I don’t want to take the credit because without them it wouldn’t go on out here.”

A great example of just how valuable these volunteers are is what they accomplished the Thursday before the event. Starting at 4:00pm they began to put together the game area, bleachers, and everything else needed for the event on Saturday. By 8:00pm everyone was able to leave because it was all done.

Between the students, the organizers, and volunteers it takes a lot to put together a FIRST competition. There is a lot of work that goes into those robots. There is a lot of work that goes into the creation of the event. There is a lot of work that goes into the setup and operation. All of this, however, leads to a fantastic competition that was as near perfection as you could hope for.

We want to thank everyone for being so welcoming and gracious with their time. Everyone was very helpful and more than willing to explain everything we needed to know about the competition. We couldn’t have asked for a better day or for better hosts.

To those that have never experienced a FIRST competition, I strongly recommend going. It will be impossible for you not to have fun.

The Pit

When fellow Robots – For The Win! writer Bryan English and I decided to attend and cover the robotics competition at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan we had no idea what we were in for. Oh sure, we knew there would be high school students that built robots for some specific task, but to summarize this event that way would be like summarizing Star Wars as an indie movie from the 70’s.

When we walked into the Kettering Recreation Center we were struck right away by the size of the event. Bleachers were set up all around a “court” where the robots would play their game The atmosphere was very much like a championship basketball game, with students from different schools chanting, leading cheers, and loudly supporting their teams. Mascots where everywhere, from the very entertaining students dressed as “ThunderChickens” to students dressed as robots, lightning bolts, and more. Entire teams were even dressed up, wearing capes and hats with flames, or shirts with construction logos on them or just shirts with their team’s colors, names and sponsors.

As the games progressed and the teams they support came onto the court, the students would wildly cheer and root for their team. Music was also always playing providing a perfect backdrop to the day. As particular songs came on between matches, students might suddenly break out dancing like a scene from a John Hughes 80’s movie, with students from multiple schools standing up and dancing routines so well you would swear they got together ahead of time and worked out the choreography.

In other words: The atmosphere was incredibly fun and infectious. The room was full of joy and happiness and excitement.

A dumper style robot from Powers Chargers

As to the game itself (called Lunacy), the rules are complex, but I will try and sum them up as best as I can. I will not deny it, seeing the game played was the best explanation. However, the basics are this: Each team is part of a three-team alliance. Two alliances face off at a time. Each team has a single robot with a trailer being pulled behind it. These Alliances (Red vs Blue) would attempt to score by placing “moon rocks” in the opposing alliance’s trailers.

The “rocks” can be placed into the trailers either by robots or by people behind glass that throw the “moon rocks” into the trailers. These “moon rocks” also end up all over the court, which is a low-friction playing surface. So the robots gather up these loose “rocks” to use as ammunition against the opposing alliance. For those that were there, you know I am leaving a lot out in terms of the rules, strategies and more. These games were complex enough that I could write a whole article just on how to play and what strategies were employed. So, for now, I am going to just leave it at the overly simplistic “put the moon rocks in the trailer” explanation.

The game and its rules are put together by FIRST, an organization founded by Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway) back in 1992.

Since more points are awarded for a robot placing a “rock” into an opposing alliance trailer than if a person throws the “rock” into the trailer, a big part of the challenge was figuring out the best ways to accomplish this task.

While implementations varied wildly, the types of robots could be categorized into two types: Turrets and Dumpers. The turret style allowed the robot to shoot the “rocks” from a distance or close-up as well as giving the advantage of being able to aim the firing mechanism. The biggest disadvantage was that they could only shoot one “rock” at a time. The dumper style of robot could only score when right next to a trailer, but had the advantage being able to drop multiple “rocks” at one time.

A turret-style robot from the EngiNERDS

The morning was the qualifying rounds. Each team would go multiple times, teamed up with different teams each time. The top teams from the morning would then get to move on to the afternoon tournament.

And here is where yet more strategy comes in: The top teams would then select from the teams that are left, two additional teams to help them form and alliance for the afternoon rounds. Teams would then accept, or if they felt they could build stronger teams on their own, decline.

There was much cheering when alliances would form, though none more than from the teams from Pontiac, Canton and Goodrich. By chance the Pontiac team (Wings of Fire) and the Canton team (Lightning Robotics) were sitting next to each other in the stands. Soon, the two schools were doing coordinated cheers and chanting “Red Alliance” (and later “Blue Alliance” when their colors had to change). They were boisterous, fun and as excited as any fans at any sporting event. Watching them was almost as much fun as the robot games themselves.

This is not to say other teams didn’t do the same thing: Quite the contrary. Chants and cheers only got louder as the finals approached and the winners about to be crowned.

When the finals were played – it was intense. Every player was at the top of their game, trying to drive and will their robots to get the “rocks” in to the opposing alliance trailers.  In the finals were the aforementioned Wings of Fire, Lightning Robotics, and Martians as the Blue Alliance. The Red Alliance was Xtreme Eagles (Romulus), Truck Town Thunder (Ortonville) and Team RUSH (Clarkston). After an intense battle and a very close set of matches, Red Alliance came out on top. At the end all players on both alliances came out and shook each others hands – and not just in a “we are required to do it” kind of way – they all seemed to be genuinely congratulating each other.

Here is the reality: in this article I am only touching on just what an amazing experience this was. Being there is really the only way to experience this event. There will be another in March. It is free to attend. You should be there.

Tomorrow, I am going to write about the students themselves. We were lucky enough to interview some of the students as well as Bob Nichols who put together this program 10 years ago. The article will be about why the students do this, how they came to choose some of the designs and why Kettering puts on this competition.

For the record, here are the winners in the Kettering FIRST Lunacy Competition:

Top Score (awarded to the Alliance with the highest score in the morning qualifiers) – Wings of Fire, Metal & Soul (Capac), Killer Bees (Auburn Hills)

Number One Seed (individual team that was seeded the highest going into the quarterfinals) – Xtreme Eagles

Robot Design Excellence (to the team whose robot demonstrates excellence in performance, aesthetics, reliability, simplicity, efficiency and innovation) – Truck Town Thunder

Spirit of FIRST (to the team who shows the most team spirit, student/engineer collaboration, gracious professionalism, and teamwork) – Lighting Robotics

Safety (to the team that progresses beyond safety fundamentals by using innovative ways to protect against hazards and promotes safety in their practices) – EngiNERDs (Grand Blanc)

Big Dog (second place alliance team) – Wings of Fire, Lightning Robotics, Martians

Top Dog (first place alliance team) – Xtreme Eagles, Truck Town Thunder, Team RUSH

Final note – you can see a few more videos on our YouTube channel.

Lunacy in full swing

Look out gym trainers, General Robotix, Inc has a robot ready to replace you. Well, almost.

Time to work off that hamburger buddy!

According to Pink Tentacle, Taizo is a robot that can help teach people how to properly stretch. It can operate for 2 hours per charge. Taizo can respond to voice commands, provided those voice commands are about exercise and not, say, dominating the earth. It is a small robot, standing at just 28-inches tall. What makes the robot appear even shorter is that it is sitting down for most exercises, though is can stand up if it needs to.

General Robotix, Inc is a maker of humanoid robots and humanoid robot parts. They even have a linux-based operating system for their robots. Best of all you can purchase all of these items from them so you can build your own robot … if you live in Japan. They do not ship outside of Japan right now.

The robot certainly looks very chipper and ready and willing to teach the elderly how to get their groove on. However, I do question having the Jack in the-Box Mascot teaching people how to stretch. Though perhaps after eating enough of their awesome hamburgers, it is for the best.

Below is a video of Jack, I mean Taizo, showing off his awesome moves.

In another step closer to 2015 and the takeover of jobs by robots, New York City has brought in a robot to mow the lawn in front of City Hall. A job that was done by humans until now, the Husqvarna Automower 230 ACX is currently on loan to the city so they can see how well it works. The claim is that this won’t replace any workers, but rather, give people more time to do other jobs.

Additionally, this is a battery-powered robot, so it is friendly to the environment. The Automower can mow up to 3/4 of an acre and knows to stay on the grass. Even the blades are deep inside the robot and it will shutoff automatically if tipped, greatly reducing the chance of injury.

The New York Daily News did have some advice from the Park Commissioner on what to do if encountering this robot in a park, despite the safety features:

“If you see a strange machine coming toward you,” he said, “it’s a good idea to walk away from it.”

This is great advice when encountering any robot, I believe.

Below is a video of the robot mower in action – as a bonus there is a rubber duck riding on top and the theme song from the old show “Convoy” is playing. No, I do not know why.

A new movie that deals with robots is on its way: Surrogates. This movie stars Bruce Willis and is about a future where people no longer go out into the world themselves, but rather use robotic surrogates. The surrogates can look like improved versions of themselves or they might not even look all that human at all. With these, people can be anything they want.

This system works great until people start getting murdered – which is where Bruce Willis, who plays an FBI agent, steps in.

Check out the trailer below – this looks like it could be a very cool movie.

Scientists at the University of the West of England are developing robots that are made out of mold. Rather than creating a traditional robot out of metal and wires, these scientists are building robots from a living organism. Physarum polycephalum is the type of mold that they are using.

Photo by Christian Fischer

The scientists are calling these biological robots “plasmabots”. These organic robots can be “programmed” to carry small objects from one location to another. The plasmabots can even determine the shortest paths to take on their own. According to Science Daily the researchers are looking into future applications of the plasmabots that would include delivering medicine to a particular point in the human body.

This is certainly a contrast in styles to the method being developed by the Israeli Institute of Technology which is developing very tiny metal robots that can swim through a person’s bloodstream to deliver medicine or perform other tasks. You can read what we wrote about this project here.

In the future it will certainly be interesting to see which method is the one that is adopted or if both are used depending on the medical task that needs to be accomplished.

I suppose it also depends on the patient – would they rather have a metal robot swimming in their bloodstream, or a biological one?

Coming up in just a couple of weeks is NASA’s annual test, RATS (Research and Technology Studies). This will be held in the desert in Arizona and NASA will test out some of their new designs. On September 15 the media is invited to come and check out their innovations in action.

The tests are being held at the Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona because the terrain is similar enough to the Lunar surface that NASA can get a decent idea of how their equipment will operate. Of course, they can’t simulate the lesser gravity levels of the moon, but still, these tests at least give them an idea of how their robots and other new devices will operate.

Besides NASA there are also teams from other locations participating. The University of Colorado at Denver, Brown University, University of Texas at El Paso, US Geological Survey, The Smithsonian Institute, Arizona State University and the Mars Institute in Moffett Field, California.

You can check out video of last year’s RATS below.

The US Military is holding a Robotics Rodeo, giving robot inventors a chance to show off what they have. Specifically it is the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC)and Fort Hood III Corps that is holding this event. The Military is seeking robots that can do everything from perform reconnaissance to robots capable of acting like a squad and acting in concert.

What the military is hoping to accomplish with this is to find new technologies that they can invest in or use right away. There will not be any competitions or full-scale robot wars, sadly.

If you have a submission, you need to get it in on June 1st. You can see the full schedule here.

The military has been greatly increasing their use of robots lately – they went from having none on the ground at the start of the Iraq war to having over 12,000 now according to P.W. Singer. In an upcoming podcast (the first ever from Robots – For The Win!) this topic is discussed in-depth.

This is a really cool and fun ad put out by Honda featuring their robot Asimo (you can read more about Asimo and other robots developed by Japanese car companies here). The robot acts very human-like in is ad, looking up when water drops on him, acting curious and more. While clearly these reactions were programmed in – as in, the robot wasn’t actually curious, etc – it still shows what robots could be like in the near future.

Check out the ad below.

This incredible robot can fly around much like an insect – it can hover, move quickly and more. There are no attached wires and it carries its own power supply. Its wings move at an incredible rate (frankly, it reminds me more of a hummingbird than an insect). The downside is, it can only do this for about 20 seconds.

This is intended for military application. It will explore areas that either troops cannot enter or are too dangerous to enter. Check out a video of it in action below.