FIRST Brings "March Madness" to Robotics

The atmosphere at Manhattan's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was charged with energy as robots developed by high-school students shot basketballs in hoops to compete for the annual NYC FIRST Robotics Regionals championship, held March 16-18, 2012. The competition featured 66 teams including students from Brazil, Canada, Turkey, and the U.K., as well as teams from all over the U.S. The enthusiasm of the participants was much like a high school gym on game day.

The Ossining High School team won the All Star Rookie of the Year Award.

As teams worked with their mentors and teachers to repair and refine their custom-built robots in NASCAR-like work pits, their excitement and passion for the competition was evident. "Every day that we met after school has been a productive day," said Saneela Rabbani from Thomas A. Edison CTE High School (Team 640), Jamaica, NY, who did the wiring for her team's robot. The design, build, mechanical, electrical, programming, and awards teams worked together for six weeks to build something reasonable in a limited time period. "The six weeks were worth the time as they got me excited about engineering," Rabbani added.

David John Devenco, an electrical engineer who has been a mentor for the Lynbrook High School (Team 846), San Jose, CA, since 2004, is very proud of his team. "These are incredibly bright kids and to see what they can do is astounding," he said.

Bronx High School of Science, NY all-girls team.

Hillary Mallar, a math and computer science teacher at the Bronx High School of Science, NY, shares the same pride for her all-girls team (Team 2265). "Girls bring a different approach to problem solving and design and work very well in the team," she said.

"Linsanity" with Robots

This year, the bots played the "Rebound Rumble" game in a 27-x-54-foot arena. The game was played between two alliances of three teams each. Each alliance competed by trying to put as many of the basketballs in the four hoops (placed at different heights) as possible during the 2:15 match. "Think of 'Linsanity' with robots," said George Nikanorov, who has been a volunteer for FIRST events for over five years, referring to New York Knicks' global sensation, Jeremy Lin.

The four hoops used in the FIRST competition, arranged at varying heights and angles.

A new addition to the competition this year was the Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect. For the first 15 seconds, the teams had an option of supplementing one of their robots' autonomous routines with movement from the team members, using the Kinect. The combination of the Kinect and the alliance robot forms a "hybrid," which the driver was able to control through a series of motions. After 15 seconds, conventional controls kicked in and the driver came back to help the team.

The Ossining High School (Team 4122) squad was one of the few teams that used the X-box Kinect to control its robot. "We set up the Kinect to drive in the hybrid period of the match," said David Earl, who programmed the controller. "Using Kinect gives us a strategic advantage in terms of the match. Rather than having our robot feel its way around the court with some kind of autonomous codes, we have the opportunity with the Kinect to continue having human control over the robot to get more basketballs to our side of the field."

The Winner Takes It All

In the end, it was metal against metal competing for basketballs and shooting them into the four hoops to gain points. Newtown High School, NY won first prize; the alliance of Brookline High School & Boston Latin School & Catholic Memorial School & Revere High School, Boston, MA took home the second spot; and McKee Vocational High School, Staten Island, NY won third place. The Ossining High School (Team 4122) that used the X-box Kinect received the All Star Rookie of the Year Award.

The winners now advance to the finals, set to take place in St. Louis, MO, at the end of April. Besides being a platform for high school students to test their technical skills, the FIRST Robotics Regionals Competition inspired many who might pursue a career in engineering.

The six weeks were worth the time as they got me excited about engineering.

Saneela Rabbani from Thomas A. Edison CTE High School, Jamaica, NY