SALT LAKE CITY -- Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.
Local high school students may be thanking their home-built robots if they snag honors in a Robot Soccer Event being held this weekend at the University of Utah.
Three Top of Utah high schools -- DaVinci Academy of Science & the Arts, the Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science, and Ben Lomond High School -- are participating in the Revenge of the Robots event, which challenges students to design and build their own robots to compete in a soccer-like tournament this weekend.
The University of Utah's College of Engineering and the Utah Governor's Office for Economic Development are holding the event, which is a regional For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology robots competition.
"It's meant to get kids interested in math and science," said Mark Minor, organizer and associate professor of mechanical engineering at the university. "Robots are a great way to do it because it's really hands-on. It can help break down a lot of barriers for people."
Students began work on the robots in January, using a set of materials provided by competition organizers. They were allowed to expand on the basic design and create a remote-controlled robot that they hope will score them the most points on the playing field today and Saturday.
"There's a lot of major parts prefabricated," said Ian Sohl, a sophomore at DaVinci Academy. "What the team does is set it together, which is a challenge of its own. We can improve it with modifications of our own. For example, we have a kicker. That, of course, isn't part of it. We design the main structure of it, what it's going to look like, but all the electronic components are given to us."
Cara Jones, a sophomore at Ben Lomond, said her team also souped up the basic robot model.
"We had to start with design and find something that would work," she said. "We didn't want to use all the basic parts, because they had given us plastic wheels. So we got real wheels, got them chained up and got everything welded together. We worked diligently -- we had to run manuals and rules to make sure we weren't breaking any."
More than 1,000 students from Utah and nearby states registered to participate in the event. Teams will compete for honors and recognition from FIRST in design excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship and partnership-building. Six winning teams will advance to the international FIRST robotics championship in Atlanta, Ga., in April.
Minor said an event like this can give students experience in engineering and science and help them choose a possible career path.
"I think it does a great job helping kids decide what kind of career is right for them before they go to college," he said. "It gives them a good perspective."
Asia Soualbert, a junior from NUAMES, said she learned a lot from, including things they would do differently next time.
"The arm was really hard to make work," she said. "We had one that was really good that just didn't turn out. It broke. The hardest thing was probably the arm. I learned more about pneumatics, and I think it would have worked better if we organized it more."
Sohl said he learned more about electronics and computer programming because of the project.
"It increased my electrical knowledge," he said. "It just provides valuable insight into how these systems work. It's real-life applications."
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