Encounter of the Robot Kind

Robots made by high school students, that is.

I high-fived a lot of high school students this past weekend. The fun part was that I would have loved being one of them when I was their age. Because they had just designed and built a robot to accomplish a specific challenge - to compete at the FIRST Robotics Competition in Sacramento.

From FIRST's website: "The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in competitions designed by Dean Kamen, Dr. Woodie Flowers, and a committee of engineers and other professionals."

This year's challenge involved building a robot that could play a game and score by putting balls into the opposing team's trailer. There's some added workings that are probably best served with the Lunacy Game animation link. (Clicking the link plays a Windows Media Movie and may take a while with slower connections)

And of course, YouTube has video of the actual event. The following video is one of the playoff matches where the #1 seeded 3-team alliance battles the #4 alliance. The playoff matches took the game competition up a notch from the qualification matches of the previous day. These were robots that had already proven their functionality and performance and were out on the field to use the best strategy of offense and defense. They were competing to win an invitation to the National competition in Atlanta.



I volunteered at the event and got a chance to talk to a number of the teams. In addition to winning the game competition, the teams could win awards based on their robotics program to inspire youth to be science and technology leaders. The teams ranged from high school engineering academies, to Girl Scouts, to teams from brand new high schools. There were a number of awards for technical excellence as well as outreach excellence, in addition to acknowledgments such as team spirit and theme creativity.

What struck me about the experience was the sheer energy and enthusiasm of the kids. It was infectious. You'll get a taste of the sports arena vibe from the video above. I wore a smile for most of my two days there because of their unabashed passion for their work. The adult world can be full of cynicism, but at the robotics competition, I was able to escape that for a little while. Overall, the students played their hearts out and shook each other's hands at the end of the games.

Women in engineering is always near and dear to my heart and I was happy to see a good representation of girls on the teams, not just participating but leading them as well. There were three all-girl teams, 2 of which were in the playoffs and were also in top contention for awards.

FIRST not only encourages the spirit of competition, but it also emphasizes the concept of gracious professionalism. Teams were proud to tell me about what other teams had helped them debug their robots. One example of this ethic came about in the transformation of one of the robots from the first day of competition to the second day. Six other teams, on observing that this robot stayed immobile during the games, took it upon themselves to lend a hand. On the first day, the robot was merely buffeted by the other robots around the playing field. On the second day, it was mobile and contributing to its team alliance.

So I was happy and proud to have been handing out high-fives to a bunch of well-deserving high school students and their mentors. They could both remind and teach me a thing or two about why I went into mechanical engineering in the first place.

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Volunteerism

One of the themes President Obama highlighted in his campaign and continues to espouse during his presidency was service. I read an article recently about what First Lady Michelle Obama was up to and the article included pictures of her reading to kids, serving food in a soup kitchen and thanking various organizations in DC for their work in service to the country. The example and encouragement of our president's family got me thinking about my own volunteering experiences and attitude.

Simply put, volunteering isn't a regular habit with me. My volunteer experiences often came from school or work; either it was an extracurricular service group at school or organizations or activities sponsored by my employer. To be clear, I'm talking about active participation rather than monetary donations. I've done my share of donations to various causes, and while I understand that money is helpful to any organization, it keeps me distanced from feeling like I've made a difference. The usual thank you and receipt is just a piece of paper.

I have taken part in events that were fundraisers where the activity was oblique to the charity's stated ultimate goal for good reason. I have ridden my bike for Tour de Cure to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. I've attended many fundraising activities for my Team in Training friends. (But no, I will never run a marathon for love, money or charity) I've raised some money for NaNoWriMo. I don't have much expertise in curing diabetes or leukemia nor have I run a creative, inspirational non-profit.

But I think my favorite volunteer experience has been activities that are directly applied help. I volunteered with Rebuilding Together Oakland a few times via my employer. Per their website "Rebuilding Together Oakland (RTO) rehabilitates the homes of low-income elderly and disabled homeowners, so they may continue to live in safety, comfort and independence." One year, I helped build a handicapped ramp and another year, I put up some cabinets, demolished a dangerously-leaning shed and put a shiny coat of paint on the house. In both examples, I did get a chance to meet the homeowner, who was very grateful for our work. It wasn't so much the direct gratitude that makes that different, though it's really awesome. I think it was putting a face to the payoff of my volunteer work that gives it that extra oomph. Which is odd for me, being an introvert. Usually I dread the effort of socializing. Strangely enough, it almost always turns out better than I expect.

This coming weekend I'll be volunteering at the FIRST Robotic Competition event in Sacramento. Once again, this was due to my employer providing the opportunity for me. And once again, I'm dreading having to be around a bunch of people I don't know. But I get to watch the culmination of the hard work and learning that high school kids put into their robots. I'm sure it'll turn out better than I expect.

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