Robots on the Court

By Aisha Rigert, 11th grade, from Lancaster, CA


It’s the last few seconds of the match, and he’s got only one chance to make it to the finals. He’s blocked left and right by the opposition, and his teammate is stumbling in his way, but racing toward the goal he goes. He shoots and scores for a twenty-point victory, and the crowd goes wild as the buzzer signals the end of the match!


This probably sounds like a typical semifinals basketball game- excitement, suspense, and heroic triumph in the final seconds of the game. If you look a little closer, though, you’ll see that not everything is as it seems. The champion of our story is not a well-known NBA star, but a humble eighteen-inch-tall robot named Thumper. Instead of muscle and bone, he’s made of metal, plastic, and electrical wires. He’s got six AA batteries to power his brain. And he was built in less than three months by a team of ten high school students.


Yes, Thumper is a robot. And along with his team, PHI Robotics, he is competing in the 2009 FIRST World Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. Like a major sports event, this robotics tournament is an energetic competition between the top teams in the world, and it’s worth the hard work it takes to get there, too. It’s three long, exciting days of competition where members of one hundred robotics teams like PHI get to make new friends, compare robot designs, get a taste of real-world deadlines and competition, and just enjoy robotics.


Each day, teams arrive at the Georgia Dome and nearby convention center from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m., depending on the day’s schedule. That can include going through inspection, meeting with judges for an interview, competing in fast-paced matches, and scouting out other teams and their robots. The upbeat emcees, loud music, and excitedly chattering kids only add to the constant commotion. It’s a good thing that the competition day ends at around 5:00- by then, team members and parents, not just robots, need a chance to recharge their batteries!


For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is the international organization responsible for this thrilling event. FIRST is dedicated to doing just what its name implies: to encourage kids to be leaders in science and technology by introducing them to robotics in fun and exciting ways, such as the energetic competition just described. However, that's not their only goal; FIRST also wants to help kids grow in basic character traits such as confidence, integrity, and leadership.


In keeping with FIRST’s ideals, the FIRST championship differs from most sports events in a very important way: it’s instilled with all the values FIRST prizes, including honesty, collaboration, and respect. So even though every team wants to win, the rivalry is friendly, and teams are eager to help others, sometimes even ripping apart their own robots to lend others vital wiring or metal components. By promoting these kinds of values, FIRST teaches kids and young adults not only how to build robots, but also how to plan ahead, work together, and motivate themselves and others- valuable life skills that everyone should have.


FIRST is also exceptional in that it reaches a wide range of ages; you can start with your first FIRST robotics team when you are six years old and continue on through high school, or even apply for special college scholarships! Thumper and PHI Robotics, though, are part of FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), the division of FIRST that’s for teams of three to ten high school students. In FTC, each team builds a medium-sized robot in a little less than three months, based on a game that FIRST releases each September. In 2009, the game, HotShot, involved a twelve-foot square field with several different kinds of goals, including ones outside the field. Two alliances of two robots each competed against each other in matches that were two minutes and thirty seconds long. The object of the game was to get the most points by shooting three-inch wiffle balls into the three different types of goals.

This task may sound easy to you, but Thumper and PHI had to work hard to accomplish it- after all, they were competing against 1100 other teams across the globe to gain one of the few spots in the FIRST World Championship. Just experiencing that championship, though, was a reward more than sufficient for the months of faithful work team members put in to build Thumper. As a member of PHI Robotics, I can personally tell you that it was even more fun than I'd expected! Before I went to the competition, I knew it would be an incredible experience, but I had no idea how exciting meeting and competing with teams and robots from all over the world can be until I tried it.


That’s why I’m glad that robotics has recently become more popular- because it’s so rewarding, I want everyone to try it, and now that FIRST has made science and technology “cool,” more kids will want to. Though building a robot in three months while collaborating with nine other students is often challenging, it’s interesting and satisfying at the same time. I learned a lot during the action-packed weeks of planning and building at robotics meetings, and I'm sure that other kids who try it will learn a lot too.


It’s been several long months since the FIRST championship ended, but the first meeting of the new season starts tomorrow. Thumper is waiting expectantly for us to take him apart and reassemble him into a new robot, to accomplish our new task. I’d love it if you would join me- and the 250,000 other kids that are part of FIRST- next year by becoming part of one of FIRST’s robotics programs! Maybe I’ll meet you at a tournament- or even at the world championship. I hope to see you there!



For more information on FIRST and how to join a robotics team near you, visit www.usfirst.org.