The task seems simple. Pick up plastic, inflated rings and place them on pegs.
But when you have to do it with a hand-built, remote-controlled robot with five other machines competing for the same pegs, it gets more complicated.
‘They make life hard,? said Rocky Bullard, Clarkston High School junior and member of the Truck Town Thunder FIRST Robotics Team.
‘We hadn’t had time to practice yet,? said Jason Bernard, who operated the robot along with Brent Bendes.
The two Clarkston High School students have to coordinate their actions to make the machine work ? one operates its arms and fingers, the other drives.
‘We didn’t break anything, which is good,? Bendes said. ‘It’s a good design.?
‘We didn’t know if it would work ? it worked better than expected,? said teammate Lindsey Hissom, senior at Clarkston High School.
‘We did pretty well for our first competition.?
They are part of the 13-member T3 team, which includes high school students from Holly and Waterford, as well as fellow CHS students Taylor Goodspeed-Slack, Riley Humphreys, Kyle LeClair, Robert Lemaux, and Jason Steed.
At the Great Lakes Regional competition March 8-10 at Ypsilanti, T3 came in 19th place out of 59 teams, and earned the Judges Award for excellence in team performance.
The team, number 68, meets at General Motors Engineering Structural Development Laboratories in Pontiac. One of 16 teams with full GM sponsorship, it has access to sophisticated design and fabrication equipment.
‘It’s a worthwhile effort,? said Karl Haehn, manager with GM’s Test Fixture Design Group. ‘When they start to get it, that’s what makes it for me.?
The team has its own shop, equipped with 10 years worth accumulated parts and machinery, including computers, programmable mill, lathe, welders, and other metal fabrication equipment. From shelving near the ceiling, nine robots from previous years silently keep watch.
‘Anything we can beg, borrow, or steal,? joked Rory Windrim, team leader and GM experimental vehicle builder, gesturing at the assorted parts and machines.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition is an annual competition. It gives students practical, hands-on experience in science, engineering, and technology.
‘Robotics are awesome,? Hissom said. ‘This is a good opportunity.?
Bullard enjoys building and wiring the 120-pound robot’s aluminum chassis.
‘It’s pretty interesting ? I really like it,? he said.
The season began with a Jan. 6 kickoff in New Hampshire. All teams were shown this year’s game field for the first time, and received a common set of parts rules, and regulations.
Working with mentors, students had six weeks to design, build, and test their robots. In this year’s game, ‘Rack ‘N? Roll,? robots hang the rings on pegs on a 10-foot-high ‘rack? structure ? some count for points while others ‘spoil? other teams? point accumulation.
The high schoolers create prototypes, try them out, backup, redesign, and try again.
‘They prototype them, see how the parts fit,? Windrim said. ‘They learn, back up, refabricate, redesign, and upgrade.?
Their current robot, T3, went to competition with a three-pronged arm. The team learned that it might do better next time with two, Hissom said.
‘So there’s not so much movement, hopefully making it a quicker process,? she said.
They will continue to work on point gathering in the two-period matches ? during the first, the robot must operate autonomously. In the second, robots are human controlled ? drivers can operate defensively or offensively, and can score extra points by lifting other robots off the floor.
‘We push other robots around a lot,? Hisson said.
They are set for Waterloo Regional Competition in Canada March 22-24, West Michigan Regional at Grand Valley State University March 29-31, and the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Ga., April 12-14.
About 38 teams are set to compete, including Team Rush from Clarkston Community Schools and OSMTECH Academy.
For more information on the FIRST program, call 800-871-8326 or check www.usfirst.org.