March will soon be here, and along with spring comes more competitions for the Oxford High School Robotics Team 2137 Robocats.
The team’s competing in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics District Competitions at Detroit Cass Tech High School March 13-14 and then at Troy High School March 27-28.
To raise money for the upcoming competitions, Emily Strzelecki of the Robocats plans to hand out fliers in Oxford, and the fliers have a detachable coupon at the bottom. The coupons can be taken to Red Knapp’s American Grill March 2. By presenting the coupon, customers at Red Knapp’s can give 20 percent of their bill to the Robocats.
This applies to dine in, carry out, drink orders and desserts.
Team mentor Nancy Zuccaro said they received information Jan. 3 on what the upcoming competitions would be like and what type of robot to design. The robot has to be a maximum of 120 pounds and must have nylon wheels to simulate a low-friction surface.
‘It came up through testing with four-wheel drive, rear steer and they have two extra wheels to provide balance,? she said.
For the competition, all robots will have a trailer attached. The object is to gather up balls from the low-friction surface and to deposit them into their opponent’s trailers.
‘We hope the team will do well,? Zuccaro said. ‘The students came up with a conveyor-belt shooter design. It gathers at the bottom and then conveys the balls up and then tries to deposit them into their opponent’s trailer.?
She added the design can shoot balls up to about 15 feet.
The competition will feature three teams competing against three others with the opponents randomly chosen.
‘One day you could be working with another team and then against them in a different round,? Zuccaro explained.
Also, by Feb. 17 the robot had to be locked with the exception of 40 pounds, which the team is continuing to optimize. Previously, the robots had to be shipped to the competitions but to reduce costs, Michigan rules for 2009 now require them to be locked up in plastic bags.
According to Zuccaro, the team has about $2,000 through fund-raising. Emily Strzelecki of the Robocats said they’re hoping to raise $5,000-$6,000 for the team–enough to take them to national competition.
For more information or to become a sponsor or donor of Robotics Team 2137 Robocats, call Zuccaro at 248-628-3312.