Fresh from a trip to Montreal, the RAGE Robotics team of East Hartford is getting ready for the regional championships that will take place March 30–31. This year, the students have constructed a basketball-shooting robot that will compete in the “Rebound Rumble” at the Hartford Convention Center.

RAGE, which stands for Robotics And Gadget Engineering, is a team made up of students from East Hartford, Manchester, Rockville and Tolland high schools; CIBA students; engineering mentors; teachers; and parents. The team, now in its 18^th year, designs and builds a robot that is used in competitions throughout the year.

During a recent meeting at East Hartford High School, the team talked about their Montreal trip and prepared for the upcoming competition. “We had six weeks to build a robot that can shoot a basketball into a hoops set at three different levels,” said William Champ, a member of the drive team for the robot. During the competition, teams shoot baskets at the ends of an eight-hoop field during a series of two minute, 15-second matches. The teams also compete for honors and recognition that reward their design excellence, competitive play and sportsmanship. Teams are also recognized for the partnerships they form with schools, businesses and communities.

The team was one of only four teams from the U.S. that participated in the Montreal event. The group placed seventh overall, and won an award from the judges for their graciousness and professionalism toward other teams. “We helped another team that was having problems with their equipment, and they ended up placing higher than we did,” said Alex Carr, the team treasurer.

Interest in robotics has grown in recent years, with new teams and national and international interest growing. Brook Jackson, the team’s vice president, has been on the robotics team for the past four years. “It’s very creative,” Jackson said. “You meet a lot of new people, people from across the country and even from other countries, and you can relate to them because you all have the same interest commitment.”

Northeast Utilities is the sponsor of the Connecticut Regional at the Hartford Convention Center. A live web cast of the event can be seen on the website www.shsrobotics.org/webcast.html. Visit www.ragerobotics.com for further information.

Reposted with permission, ReminderNews.

Teams from all over Connecticut and as far away as Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., were prepared to battle it out on Feb. 18 at the 11th Annual Suffield Shakedown Scrimmage, a FIRST Robotics competition. FIRST Robotics is a national program high schools everywhere are plugging into which emphasizes the skills learned in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Hosted by Team No. 176, otherwise known as “Aces High Robotics,” at Suffield High School, the gymnasium was throbbing with excitement as a D.J. blared dance music and teams assembled with their robots, each making last-minute adjustments to their creations. Each team was given a mere six weeks to assemble, prototype, and test their robot prior to bringing it to the Shakedown.

The goal? Be able to pick up and throw a basketball into a basket. That is easier said than done, and all the teams took a different approach to making it happen.

“Ours has a custom drive base with drop omni-wheels,” said team member Robert Hunt of South Windsor’s Bobcats. “We have a tower that pivots around its center.”  The team of about 34 students spent more than 120 hours on its robot.

“We’re using a catapult and pneumatics,” said Victor Hipolito, a member of “Buzz Robotics,” from Enfield. “Buzz” has 21 team members, and they were proud to say that they “make it the biggest that we can.” According to Hipolito, they have one adult mentor for every student, making it a very one-on-one learning experience.

“Our robot sucks up the ball on the front and then we have pneumatics that pop it up to the top rollers,” said Emily Davidson, of East Hartford’s “Rage Robotics.” “The challenge is to make it in the basket.” “Rage” has 30 students on its team.

All the teams were nervous about whether or not their robot would function as planned in the heat of battle.

The competition began with the first couple of match-ups of four bots, each controlled by a team of drivers. Extra points were given for being able to traverse the bridges in the center of the playing field. Only a few baskets were scored. Match number three met with some technical difficulties and after a few games of “rock, paper, scissors” and a spontaneous dance-a-thon, the robots were ready to roll again. Each battle for baskets only lasted 2 minutes and 15 seconds, barely enough time for some of the teams to find their bearings on the game field.

After several heats and a full day of competition, winners were chosen, and in the end the teams with the largest number of points were  No. 716 – The Who’sCTEKS of Falls Village; No. 176 – Aces High of Windsor Locks; and No. 2168 – Aluminum Falcons of Groton.  All three winners will be moving on to the FIRST CT Regional Competition to be held in Hartford on March 29.

Reposted by permission, ReminderNews.