Popular Science attends New York's high-school robot showdown and sees celebrities, breakdowns, and mechanical lunacy
By Paul Gleason Posted 03.25.2009 at 9:06 am 8 Comments

Stuyvesant's robot, ready in its corner Paul Gleason
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Day One

It's Friday morning, March 6, not even eight a.m. High school students in color-coordinated outfits stand at ease under the high ceiling of the Javits Center, waiting for the New York City's FIRST Robotics Competition to begin. Over the next three days, sixty six teams will vie for the regional crown and spots in the national tournament, held in the Georgia Dome come April. Some of the schools have mascots. One team's red dragon boogies back and forth in front of another team's Darth Vader. Darth brandishes his light saber.

Founded in 1992, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has grown from a single New Hampshire gymnasium to more than forty regional competitions. There are regionals all across the country (and another in Tel Aviv). FIRST has nearly 1,700 teams, some with as few as ten members and others with more than a hundred. A few mentors -- alums, teachers, or professional engineers -- advise each team. Months ago, each team received a package of basic parts and a rule booklet 130 pages thick. They then had six short weeks to design, build, test, and finally ship their robots.

The main hall of the Javits Center is airport-hangar huge. Rows and rows of bleachers flank what looks like a miniaturized hockey rink with slick white plastic instead of ice. Behind the rink hang an enormous video screen and a tall black curtain. Behind them, more than sixty robots, each ensconced in a big wooden crate. The "pit," as this area is called, feels oddly calm and empty. Two students from Long Island's Hauppauge High, Mike Morales and Nolan Conway, struggle to extricate their robot, but are eager to talk about it once they have.

It is three-tiered and about five feet tall, with clear plastic sides and black netting in back. Its robotic guts are on the first level, protected all the way around by a blue bumper. The second level is empty, and the top has a wide, winged piece of metal that can pop up and forward. They joined FIRST after several years in a battlebots league, tired of rebuilding their robot after every match. FIRST, says Conway, is "more nonviolent."

Every year, he continues, FIRST invents a new game. This year's is "Lunacy," a name meant to invoke both crazy fun and the moon. (The plastic playing field apparently simulates low gravity.) Each game includes six teams divided into two alliances. A team scores when it drops its "moon rocks" (slightly fuzzy orange and purple spheres) into another robot's trailer. Moon rocks are worth two points apiece. Teams send four human players to the field. The two "pilots" control their robot as it chases enemies around the rink, or "crater." The payload specialist lobs moon rocks at opposing trailers from the sidelines. The "commander" shouts orders at everybody else.

By now, everyone else has un-crated their robots, too, and the pit is getting crowded. There is a team of Brits with a big Union Jack and a cardboard box marked "rubbish." A group of Brazilians has papered its crate with Portuguese news stories (subject: them). Otherwise, the pit is full of teams from the tri-state area, all with terrific names: The Mechanical Marauders, Skillz Tech, G-House Pirates, Pope John Robotics, Robotic Plague, Saunders Droid Factory, and Nerds with Attitude. The Bronx High School of Science has two teams: the co-ed SciBorgs and all-girl Fe Maidens (a founding member was into heavy metal). Stuyvesant High School has painted its robot with evil-looking red eyes and sharp, red-tinted teeth. Another team, from Herbert H. Lehman high school, flies a banner with a motto out of an old B-movie: "It came from the Bronx!" Over the loudspeaker, a slow, matronly voice reminds everyone in the pit to please wear protective goggles.

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8 Comments

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gianthornet
03/26/09 at 12:06 pm

When will these robots benefits the human race? It does not focus at the impending catastrophes we're experiencing right now.

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robowarriors
03/26/09 at 7:25 pm

"When will these robots benefits the human race? It does not focus at the impending catastrophes we're experiencing right now."

I don't know if you are unfamiliar, but this is a program for high school students, not adults. These students who had no interest or even knowledge of engineering (I can speak for myself and dozens of others) suddenly became captivated through this competition, and even though our robot may not be navigating Mars or protecting our country, in 10 years, something that I create, inspired by this program, may be doing just that. This is about building massive interest in the science and engineering fields. Its already too late to convince the current work force to do this, so FIRST is making a huge investment in the future.

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dgraves702
03/27/09 at 12:58 am

"When will these robots benefits the human race? It does not focus at the impending catastrophes we're experiencing right now."

I'm sorry, but since when were HIGH SCHOOL Students being counted on to save the world? This program is for high school students to get them interested in Math and Science and encourage them to go into engineering. I am right with robowarriors here. As a former student in these competitions and now as a mentor who came back to FIRST after going to college and getting my Engineering degree, I see the success of this program every single day. These robots were all designed and built in SIX WEEKS. My team recently came to my job for a demonstration, and engineers with 30 years of experience were shocked at the amount of knowledge that these kids have and the fact that they are able to design and build a robot practically from scratch in only six weeks. On a more personal note, my own participation in FIRST led me into engineering and definitely helped me prepare for both college and the Engineering Industry.

Our country lags far behind other countries in terms of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education, and FIRST, which has programs aimed at Middle School ages and even younger, is helping to close that gap.

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david01
03/29/09 at 3:37 pm

FIRST is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved. It may not directly address the issues our world faces, but it equips students with the skills they need to excel in their future endeavors. Furthermore, they have fun doing it. I hope FIRST robotics continues to grow and have success.

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esherk
05/18/09 at 7:01 pm

Having been involved with FIRST both as a mentor for an FRC (High School robotics) team for 4 years and as a coach for an FLL team (Junior High school Lego robotics) for 5 years I can assure you that the FIRST organization does focus on critical problems facing us.

FLL is VERY focused on real problems and the kids learn a LOT. In addition to the "robot game", the kids do research and are expected to think of a solution to a (local) problem and then SHARE that with their community. Trust me, that is challenging and rewarding. I encourage you to check out previous years' challenges (focusing on climate, energy, etc), I know you'll find a lot of substance there. This coming season, the "puzzle" involves transportation and its challenges.

At the high school level, the focus is on learning/exposure AND on bringing that impact to others. The key here is that they gain a real hands-on appreciation for science and technology, work side-by-side with practicing engineers and scientists, and then help bring that experience to others. It is in the sparking of their creative and technical interests that we can help seed their future impact on the world.

The intangibles they all learn are perhaps even more important. Teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving, dealing with adversity, and "coopertition" (although there is a "winner" no one loses).

I invite you to find a local team and get involved. If one doesn't exist, start one! It is incredibly rewarding. And, you can help make the very impact you seek! These are the future scientists that will help solve these problems.

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dwatts1
05/21/09 at 6:02 pm

Man, I wish they had this when I was growing up... Very interesting article and congratulations to all of those involved!

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quasi44
10/02/09 at 5:14 pm

I'm glad it's here for my kids.

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romaniamac1
10/21/09 at 5:04 am

poker robots can even play poker nowadays -> www.pokerbot-smart.com

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