2 teams of roboteers advance to state
(From left) Molly Vega, Katie Stebbins and Maddie Ebel put their robot through its paces prior to state competition later this month.
MOSES LAKE - Robotics competition is about tasks, but not really. Competitors are assigned tasks, but they don't actually do them. They tell the robot what to do.
And as most boys can attest, girls are very good at telling others what to do. Two teams of Girl Scouts will advance to state competition after top finishes in regional robotic competition.
The RoboSparx team is the overall regional champion in their age group, while the RoboGirls came home with first place finishes in robot races and robot programming. State competition is scheduled for later this month.
Robotics competitors all start with the same robot kit and the same list of challenges. From those raw materials the kids build a robot.
It starts with programming a robot brain, using components the competitors call blocks. "The blocks tell the motors what to do," said Jocelyn Beich of the RoboGirls.
(The girls could not demonstrate their robot in action, unfortunately. "She's charging," Jocelyn said.)
Every year the list of tasks is built around a theme which promotes community service. For 2012-13 the theme is assisting senior citizens.
Organizers come up with a list of tasks for the robot, and after that it's up to the roboteers. "Actually we choose our own missions," said Lauren Beich of the RoboGirls.
Each task takes a specific amount of time, and each is assigned a number of points upon successful completion. Each team has two and a half minutes to complete the entire mission. So the hard part is building a mission that generates the maximum point value in the time allotted.
Well, that's not the hardest hard part. "The hard part is when it (the robot) throws little things off the edge (of the competition table)," said Molly Vega of the RoboSparx. "And every year something gets thrown off the table," said Sarah Dorman, Molly's teammate.
"We look at the table, first of all," Lauren Beich said. The competition table has a track laid out with objects the robot must pick up or move, maneuver around, balance on, climb up or down.
The girls pick their tasks and plot out a route, said Maddie Ebel of the RoboSparx. Building and programming the robot is the next step.
Each team gets a primary robot and a backup. "We named him (the robot) Little Hansel, because he looks like a German tank," Ebel said. The RoboSparx backup is named Gretel.
"We make it how we want it. We do a lot of it based on the table," said Kristin Vega of the RoboGirls. Kristin used the example of the propulsion system; the girls had their choice of wheels or treads. "We're using treads this year," Kristin said, because the robot has to climb stairs and treads are more effective.
"There are a lot of little things you can put in your bot," Lauren said, like sensors. But each addition comes with its own risk. "Sensors can be good, but they can be really bad for your mission," Kristin said.
Once it's on the table "you press the button and it just goes," Maddie said. With any luck, the robot goes where it's been told.
But the robot is only half the competition. Competitors also must come up with solutions to the community service problem presented. "It's not just table, table, table, table, table," Kristin Vega said.
The solutions must have a technical component, and "creative solutions are not discouraged," whether it's the community service problem or programming a robot, said troop leader Kat Stebbins.
"You have to be good at everything," Lauren Beich said.
"Or at least try, and have fun," Kristin Vega said.
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