Inland Empire Regional Competition of Robotic Creations

FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC®) held its 2nd annual 2014 Inland Empire Regional at Grand Terrace High School this past weekend. Last year, it was held at Cal State San Bernardino. David Berggren, FRC® Regional Director of Southern California shared, “This is one of three regional competitions held at this level. We work with students K through 12. This weekend’s event is at the varsity level, which is sort of the capstone of the FRC® organization.” FRC® holds events all over the world in about 18 different countries, currently, totaling 2600 teams. In a seven-week period, FRC® will have about 100 different competitions, in such places as the U.S., Israel and Mexico City, Berggren stated. “One thing you’ll find out about FRC® is that it’s a huge volunteer-based organization,” Berggren stated. Ann Marie Allen, a volunteer from the San Bernardino Community College District shared how she feels about working with FRC®, “I think it’s an amazing experience to watch all of the students really being involved, learning and growing and just having so much fun doing something educational, an opportunity we don’t really have in our area very often.” Schools, mentors and volunteers from as far as Colorado, Arizona, and Northern California joined in the event. Local participants were from all throughout the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino. Students prepared and worked alongside volunteer professional engineers from such companies as SpaceX, Boeing, JPL-NASA, NASA’s Dryden Flight, and Edison, to build and brand a team of their own to create a one of a kind robot using sophisticated software design and programming, project management, and strategic thinking skills. The primary goal of FRC® is to make science and technology fun. While raising such vital interest in the global village among America’s youth, FRC® makes it a point to work with disadvantaged students and Title 1 schools to ensure that all youth have an opportunity to excel in science, technology, communications and group dynamics. Liberty Naud, 2014 Volunteer of the Year, and Founder of SMART Education (Science, Math, and Robotic Technology Education) that is a nonprofit in the Coachella Valley and one of the lead sponsors of the IE Regional event, opened Sunday’s competition sharing her personal experience that fostered her involvement. “Essentially this is what really happened. In 2008, I walked into a 3rd Grade computer lab, and I found all of the kids working really hard. Playing solitaire. I know, right? Like, I’ve been there. I went back there a few weeks later, and it was the exact same thing, and I got really upset. And I thought to myself: it is no wonder that the United States is ranked 24th in math and 17th in science. So, for that elementary school, I decided to volunteer and teach 20 kids, after school, how to build and program, LEGO Robots, never realizing and thinking that their experiences were going to impact me. Suddenly, attendance increased. Girls were running around saying, ‘I love science!’ And, the little kids who avoided the ‘F’ word. Fractions. Right? They’re suddenly calculating the arch of an angle to make their robots turn, and I couldn’t believe the change! And, little boys like Mikey. You all know Mikey. He’s the one picked last at P.E., sometimes not at all at recess. This little boy whose self-esteem was so low from these playground antics that he actually thought suicide was an option. At 9! He worked for weeks with our volunteers on his little robot. And I have to tell you, when he made his robot move six inches, for the very first time, he looked up at me, and he said, ‘Mom, I can build and program a robot! I can do anything!’ And, I realized that the robot…” Applause momentarily interrupted Naud as she spoke. “That robot, it was a tool. It was a trick. I was an innovative way to get kids excited about science and math. And, it was a self-esteem booster. And we in the Inland Empire now have over 3700 kids from 5 years old through college engaged in robotics and engineering programs. And FRC® is part of that,” Naud concluded. With the hope of winning one of the several coveted awards, high school students worked with their professional mentors to design and build a 100lb. robot over a six-week period to compete in what is called, Aerial Assist(SM). The 2014 game, Aerial Assist(SM), is played by two Alliances of three teams each. The match begins with a one 10-second Autonomous Mode in which robots operate independently, after which, Alliances take over in what is called Teleop Mode in which a representative from each team takes over their robot to compete by trying to score as many balls in goals as possible during a 2-minute and 30-second match. Additional points are earned by robots working together to score goals, and by throwing and catching balls over a truss suspended just over five feet above the floor as they move the ball down the field. Christopher Ayuso, of the Los Angeles team 597 shared their game plan, “For our strategy, we want to hit our Autonomous Mode, land it in the “hot” spots [“hot” spots earn a greater number of points] hopefully, and then we’re going to be scoring in the low goals, but if anything else happens, we can adapt to the situation. If we need to shoot a high goal, we can do that as well. We built our robot to be able to adapt to the situation depending on who are our team Alliance members.” For 2014, FRC® has secured over 150 scholarship providers that will be making 900 individual scholarship opportunities available that total over $19 million. This competition is an opportunity for local students to supplement their education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. FIRST® founder, Dean Kamen shared, "In today’s increasingly competitive business environment, 'Works well with others’ is a much sought-after skill. Our digital age demands that people be adept at working in a collaborative team environment, despite physical separation and time restrictions. They must know how to navigate through an increasing number of communication channels and software sharing tools to engage in meaningful discussions so the job can get done.” These were the main reasons Kamen began the program, which has since touched tens of thousands of lives. FIRST® alumni are more likely to attend college, 90 percent reported learning practical and work-related skills and 89 percent reported increased self-confidence. Winners of the 2nd Annual Inland Empire FIRST Robotics Competition Awards include: TEAMS AND INDIVIDUALS ADVANCING TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Regional Chairman’s Award* (highest award of the competition) Team 399 from Lancaster, CA Engineering Inspiration Award (second highest award of competition) Team 4499 from Fort Collins, CO Regional Winners Team 1678 from Davis, CA; Team 399 from Lancaster, CA; Team 4161 from Yucaipa, CA Rookie All Star Award Team 5012 from Palmdale, CA Dean’s List Finalists Anthony Stuart from Team 4201 in Hawthorne, CA; Dylan McNamara from Team 3925 in Ventura, CA Woodie Flowers Finalist David Voracek from Team 399 in Lancaster, CA ADDITIONAL AWARDS for Saturday and Sunday’s competitions include: Regional Finalists Team 294 from Redondo Beach, CA; Team 599 from Granada Hills; Team 4139 from San Diego Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award Regional Champion Liberty Naud from SMART Education in Indio, CA Industrial Safety Award sponsored by Underwriters Laboratories Team 4574 from Fullerton, CA Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors Team 294 from Redondo Beach, CA Highest Rookie Seed Award Team 5012 from Palmdale, CA Judges Award Team 597 from Los Angeles, CA Rookie Inspiration Award Team 5107 from Upland, CA Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers Team 701 from Fairfield, CA Team Spirit Award sponsored by Chrysler Team 3925 from Ventura, CA Excellence in Engineering Award sponsored by Delphi Team 599 from Granada Hills, CA Gracious Professionalism Award sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Team 3470 from Temecula, CA Creativity Award sponsored by Xerox Team 1678 from Davis, CA Quality Award sponsored by Motorola Team 4201 from Hawthorne, CA Innovation in Control Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation Team 1828 from Vail, AZ Imagery Award in honor of Jack Kamen Team 2839 from Escondido, CA *The Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award of the event and recognizes the team that embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST® and best represents a model for other teams to emulate. If Chels “Casper” Rogers, 21, could describe her experience with FRC® in one word, it would be, “Adventurous.” Rogers, who’s been involved with FRC® for the past 7 years, and who, as she openly shared, was abandoned by her biological father and whose mother lived with her parents to raise her, shared how she got involved with FRC®. “Elementary through junior high, I was really shy. I wouldn’t talk to anybody.” So, Rogers’s mother homeschooled her, which she hoped her mother would keep doing through high school, not really wanting to be around people. “My past kind of clouded my judgment for a long time on how I viewed people. So, we found River Springs Charter School, which is where Robokong [Riverside FRC® team 2493] was originally affiliated. I wouldn’t even talk to Richard and Dona Sisk, our team mentors. I would just sit in the corner with my laptop and do everything I could to not be a participant on the team. So, one day, I get a call at 4 o’clock in the morning, saying, ‘Will you come down to San Diego with us because we need to do a presentation, but the guy that was going to called out sick.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’” So, with hundreds of people from all of Southern California, including school officials, students, mentors, etc., Rogers said, “At 14 years old, they handed me the mic and said, 'Speak!'” “'Speak about what?'” Rogers complained. “'Speak about robotics. Speak about what you do,'” her mentors urged. “And from then on, I found out that I had a voice. That’s what FIRST® Robotics does. They take children like me who were lost and give them a desire to want to do something or become something. Or, they take kids from neighborhoods who don’t have any money to do anything. There are kids much worse than I was, and FIRST® Robotics gives them hope.” The national championship will take place April 23-26 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO, where teams from around the world will gather to compete for the top award - the coveted FIRST® Robotics Competition Championship Winning Alliance award.