June 17, 2009

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Lindbergh, Kentridge Take Top Two Spots
At 'Death Bots' Robotics Competition

It's a long, strong tradition that showcases students' love for learning and creative talent with a little math and physics mixed in.

Nine south end high schools gathered on June 4 for the 16th Annual Northwest Regional Robotics Competition, sponsored by Lindbergh High School. In some cases, the full-day "Death Blocks" tournament is a culmination of a full year of learning theories in mechanical design. Last year's tournament was called "Wifflebot."

Near the end of each school's program, students take out the the tools, both metaphorically and literally, to construct the best robot possible to compete against other teams at Lindbergh. Many of those robots take about two months to construct.

Lindbergh Coaches Tim McElroy and Matt Randall are in their second year of coaching this highly successful program that was created 16 years ago by Larry Richter and Geof Newing. McElroy and Randall enjoy sharing the duties, offering complementary strengths to make it all work. "Matt does the electronic work with computers and those kinds of things, and I make sure all the functional elements are taken care of," said McElroy.

Rules
The rules are fairly simple: Robots have one minute to score as many points as possible during the match. Points can be scored by placing each team's block into different "bins" in the plexiglass pyramid at the center of the table. Scoring is as follows:

• 1 point for placing each block in any first level bin
• 3 points for placing each block in any second level bin
• 5 points for placing each block in any third level bin

Three "Modifer Blocks" can be used to complicate the scoring and potentially cancel all the work the competition has done during that critical match. When placed in a bin directly above a group of blocks, a Modifier Block can change the scoring in significant ways. For example:

• The "Death Block" (Black) cancels any scoring blocks in the bin directly beneath it
• The "Doubler Block" (Green) doubles the worth of any blocks in the bin directly beneath it
• The "SWAP Block" (Yellow) switches the scores of the blocks to the opposite teams, applicable to the bin beneath where it is placed

Finally, a team can score five additional points if their robot is completely within its area's white starting area at the end of the match.

The event was a double-elimination competition, so it was possible for a team to come from behind and win the Title. Teams are composed of three members, rotating with two members to maneuver the two robot controls during each match.

Strategy Counts
Many of the teams have developed strategies not only on how they designed their robots, but they also strategized on how they will work as a team and how they will approach the competition.

Kentridge's Team Pusillanimous felt that their robot's strength was in its ability to lift a large quantity of blocks. "I like the general assembly of the robot; it has a lot of torque in the way it was designed. The design keeps the shovel from falling," said Jonathan Muller.

Teammate Cameron Dyrness also liked the shovel and its power. "It can hold four Death Blocks at one time," said Dyrness. Dyrness also noted that they watch the competition play their matches so they can strategize on what they might do to beat them.

Senior Sam Wallen also said that they also incorporate the "KISS" principle. "We try not to fix something that's not a problem," said Wallen.

Preliminary Surprise
During the preliminary rounds, others thought that Lindbergh's Team SATU was going to be a strong team and was favored to make it to the final round. However, they were upset by an all-female Lindbergh team who erupted, jumping and screaming, surprised by their own accomplishment.

"We were surprised because the other team was best favored," said Ti Nguyen.

Final Round
That didn't hold Team SATU back, as they regrouped and continued to win each match that followed, making it to the final round.

In the final round, Lindbergh's Team SATU faced Kentridge's Team Pussilanimous. Because Team Pussilanimous was undefeated, they needed to win just one match. Team SATU, on the other hand, was required to win both a first and second match to capture the Title.

Team SATU came out strong in the first match, with a clear advantage because their robot was the only one that could place blocks on the third level. That advantage was one of the main the elements that allowed Team SATU to take the last two matches, capturing the title for Lindbergh for a second consecutive year.

KR's Team tried their best to thwart Team SATU's advantage by butting the plexiglass structure in an attempt to knock blocks off the structure. But the effort was in vain.

"We didn't put enough time into the design to reach the third level, and we really needed to do that," said Dyrness.

In addition to the third level design that gave Lindbergh's Team SATU a clear advantage, team members Travis Gundram, Samantha Pua and Anthony Lee felt their team was also strong in teamwork.

"Timing is important as a team," said Samantha Pua.

"For the controls, someone needs to tilt and someone needs to lift, and you need to work well together," said Travis Gundram.

Overall, a spirit of good sportsmanship is encouraged, and Team SATU wanted to emphasize this point when reflecting on their win. "We want to thank Mr. Randall and Mr. McElroy for their support. Everyone who participated did a good job, and we want to thank them, too," said Pua.

Participating Schools

Top Four Teams

First Place - Team SATU, Lindbergh
Second Place - Team Pusillanimous, Kentridge
Third Place - Team Squalicum, Squalicum
Fourth Place - Team Fighting Mongooses, Lindbergh