By Carly Montan
Staff Writer
Many assume that robots are technological advances that will only be utilized in the future. They belong to Hollywood and science fiction stories. However, for the Beach Cities Robotics team, the dreams of the future are tools for current success.
The Beach Cities Robotics team dominated the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) regional robotics competition in San Diego on March 5, qualifying for the championships at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
Teens from countries such as Brazil, Canada and Israel join the competition, totaling 48,000 students and 1,800 teams for the 2010 season. Every team is offered 43 regional competitions per season to give it a chance to get into championships.
“I’m really happy this team has the chance to go to championships because although we had a couple of bumps in the design, we really put out an outstanding robot,” robotics team member and junior Karen Izumoto said.
This year’s first competition was “Break Away,” a game similar to soccer where robots score goals. Despite some difficulty, the team came out on top with a score of 8-4 in the first finals match and 3-1 in the second match.
“It was a lot more fun to design the robot for this year’s game because Break Away is more of a real sport; there is strategy involved in design,” junior robotics team member Matt Steiger said.
The Beach Cities Robotics team will meet almost evey day during the six weeks leading up to the World Championships competition and its L.A. competition on March 27. Technical professionals from Boeing and Northrop Grumman assist them in constructing the robots. Ken Sterk is the lead technical mentor who teaches students how the robots work and are built.
“I enjoy teaching what I’ve learned and believe that the knowledge they have gained will help benefit the scientific community and spread science and technology throughout their communities,” Sterk said.
Leave a Reply