Feature: High-Schoolers Go Into Overdrive at FIRST Robotics Competition

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Feature                                              March 24, 2008     High-Schoolers Go Into Overdrive at FIRST Robotics Competition Fifty-two teams from high schools in Southern California, Arizona and New Hampshire competed in the Los Angeles FIRST Robotics Competition last Friday and Saturday. Five teams, one sponsored by JPL and another sponsored by the Dryden Flight Research Center, will go on to the worldwide competition, to be held April 17-19 in Atlanta. The teams from Hope Chapel Academy, Hermosa Beach; Delphi Academy, Lake View Terrace; and Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, Goleta, won the overall regional competition. The Dryden-sponsored Lancaster High School, Lancaster, won the Regional Chairman's Award, so it will also participate in the final competition, as will San Diego's High Tech High School, which received the Engineering Inspiration Award. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is part of NASA's Robotic Alliance Project. The students designed, built and tested the robots -- which can stand up to six feet high and weigh up to 120 pounds -- with the help of engineers. Thirty engineers at JPL worked with several of the teams for more than six weeks, and 70 more JPLers volunteered at the event. In this year's "Overdrive" challenge, robots raced counterclockwise on a track roughly the size of a tennis court. In each two-minute-and-15 second round, robots scored points by pushing and passing huge rubber "Trackballs" around the field and over a six-and-a-half foot overpass. Robots had to operate by themselves for the first 15 seconds of each round, then students were allowed to control the robots for the remaining two minutes. 2008 Los Angeles Regional FIRST Robotics Awards * Connotes JPL or other NASA-sponsored team Regional Winners: - *"Beach Bots," Hope Chapel Academy, Hermosa Beach - "Thunderbots," Delphi Academy, Lake View Terrace - "D'Penguineers," Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy, Goleta Regional Finalists: - "BCR," Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach - "Bagel Bytes," Culver City High School, Culver City - "RoboWarriors," Bishop Alemany High School, Mission Hills Regional Chairman's Award: *"Eagle Robotics," Lancaster High School, Lancaster Engineering Inspiration Award: "The Holy Cows," High Tech High School, San Diego General Motors Industrial Design Award: *"Beach Bots," Hope Chapel Academy Motorola Quality Award: "Metalcrafters," Centinela Valley Union High School District, Hawthorne Johnson & Johnson Gracious Professionalism Award: "Robodox," Granada Hills Charter High School, Granada Hills Judges' Awards: "MorTorq," Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills "The Nerd Herd," California Academy of Mathematics and Science, Carson Rookie Inspiration Award: *"TNT," John Muir High School, Pasadena Rookie All-Stars Award: *"LCE," La Canada High School, La Canada Highest Rookie Seed: "SMERT," Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Rolling Hills Estates Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award: *"Eagle Robotics," Lancaster High School, Lancaster