MNTC Students Engineer Robot for Regional Competition

By Anna Trowbridge
Moore Norman Technology Center
atrowbridge@mntechnology.com

In February, 24 high school students in Moore Norman Technology Center's Pre-Engineering program disassembled and carefully packaged a robot they designed and engineered in less than six weeks.  The robot was sent to Houston and met up with its creators March 30-April 1.

For the first time in MNTC's history, the team battled it out with hundreds of other teams to win a regional For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics Competition.

More than 1,100 teams from across the United States, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, England and Israel participated in 33 regional competitions leading up to the 2006 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

MNTC's robot ranked in the top 10 for the defense part of the competition against all teams competing in all regionals.  Defense is being able to defend your goal(s) from offensive robots taking shots and scoring on you. This can be done by pushing/shoving other robots out of their firing positions or obstructing the pathways of other robots trying to take shots on their goals.

MNTC entered the Lone Star Competition. Students represent MNTC's four partner schools in education: Moore, Westmoore, Norman and Norman North high schools. MNTC is one of eight engineering programs and one of three technology centers representing Oklahoma this year.

The team had an initial budget of $6,000, which was matched by business and individual sponsors, including the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering. With this money, the team was able to purchase additional needs for the project.

MNTC's Pre-Engineering program tackled the FIRST Competition effort with gusto.  Instructors Jason Rausch and Art Waldenville believe their students have been up for the challenge since the day the contest was presented to them.

Two large crates consisting of parts, engines, wires, framing and other components were mailed to the technology center once MNTC entered the competition. The students had to assess what they had and brainstorm on the possibilities for what was delivered. There are a few jobs each robot must be able to perform at contest, according to the instructors. Each robot must climb a 30 degree incline, be robust, weigh less than 120 pounds, have a hopper system, collect balls, score points, be as simple as possible, be safe and mobile.

MNTC's team designed a robot with a shooting system to score points and conveyor belt system to collect the Nerf balls.

"These are some of the brightest minds in high school," Waldenville said. "Kids who know they want to become engineers later in life. What an incredible experience this is for them to work on a real-world project like this under extreme pressure."

Rausch agreed.

"This is the closest they'll get to experience what engineers do every day," Rausch said. "Tied to a fixed budget, weight, size, electrical constraints, and a hard deadline of six weeks from beginning to end. That's as real as it gets for engineers. They worked in teams with portions of the project assigned to them individually. They have taken on massive amounts of responsibility. We're so proud of them."

MNTC's two-year pre-engineering program is for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors requiring five main courses of study. The FIRST Competition satisfies second-year students' Design and Development course project requirement.

Westmoore High School senior and project leader Tim Long is enthused about the opportunity the program presents.

"It's cool that we're working on a project some kids coming out of college haven't done," Long said. "We've already got an edge over them and are really two years ahead of engineering freshmen."

Robert Love, Norman North High School senior and project leader, agrees.

"This is something I've always wanted to do," Love said. "To be able to see the robot now and say that I've had a hand in it is an amazing feeling."

Rausch stressed that the competition as a whole is the bonus to the project. He said the true growth and learning happened prior to the stage setting. Each student is expected to conduct themselves with "gracious professionalism."

"What gracious professionalism teaches them is how to conduct themselves in industry," Rausch said.  "If another team burns out a transistor or a controller, it's the gracious thing to do to give them one if we have an extra during competition. In the real-world, this is how engineers interact with each other.  The competition is truly won in the design and building of the robot, not necessarily at the competition."

Competition week was a more calm time, according to Waldenville.

"This is the time with the least amount of pressure for me," Waldenville said.  "The real work has been over the last six weeks. The five Oklahoma Technology Centers with Pre-Engineering programs are at an advantage when it comes to assembly because of the other technical and engineering-based programs on-site."

MNTC's Carpentry program built the 30-degree incline ramp and the Welding program cut and bent aluminum components that were needed.

"Precision Machining made what holds the shooter wheels together for the project," Waldenville said. "They had to be able to spin at 5,000 rpm. Students discussed options with the instructor, Tracy (Jones), and he made it happen for us."

This was the biggest advantage for all technology center teams.

"It's more like industry where we would have experts available to help with some design aspects and modification," Long said.

Students did most of the drafting of the project using Autodesk Inventor 10, along with the animations. The team also developed their project website, www.team1742.com, which lists sponsors, and follows the work schedule, another area of the competition.

Once entered in the competition, the event is a "round-robin" in which three teams are paired in an arena to compete in a game like basketball. The team must score the most points, together and individually, and defend their goals, working together to accomplish the mission.

MNTC's team finished 19 in the regional competition.

"We're just so proud of all they've accomplished in such a short time," Waldenville said. "Whatever the outcome, they're winners for having attempted, and succeeded in this. They are engineers."

For more information about MNTC's Pre-Engineering program visit www.mntechnology.com or call 405-364-5763.

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