At U.S. high schools, students can compete in football, basketball, baseball — and robotics. Popular Mechanics reports on a regional robotics contest sponsored by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which was founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989. Competitions include 1,500 teams and 37,000 high schoolers in every state and several foreign countries.
Each team is given a standard kit of 400 parts and six weeks to meet a single engineering challenge . . .
This year, teams scored points by moving 40-in. balls around an elliptical track and either herding them under or hurtling them over a 6-ft., 6-in. overpass. No robot could be taller than 6 ft. or weigh more than 120 pounds — but that’s where the similarities ended. Some robots sported PVC jaws that clamped around the ball; others scooped it with forklift-like arms or ejected it from an aluminum cage. At least one whirled around backwards and catapulted the ball over its shoulder.
. . . When the bell rang, the teams’ drivers stepped up to their remote controls and the robots leapt into action, lurching around the track. A demolition-derby-style pileup quickly occurred in one corner, but the robots excavated themselves and resumed course. The Robo Warriors’ bot grabbed a red ball in its arms and extended like a telescoping ladder to about 8 ft., pitching it over the overpass.
The Red Alliance won.
“We gave you six weeks and a pile of junk to build a robot, and I think most of you had fun trying,†(Kamen) said. A cheer started in one row and quickly grew, rippling through the crowd. “Now imagine if we took away all the constraints. Imagine if you had six months.†The room roared.
Via Instapundit.
Ah, the new constructionism. I wonder if the learning is genuine?