By Jeff Wilson–
The robot was sitting on blocks on a table while Irvington High School’s Bulldog Bytes, now functioning like a pit crew at a racetrack, diagnosed the problem that had caused the bot to malfunction in the previous “heat.” Mark Rothman, one of the robotics team captains and chief mechanical engineer, determined that the intake shaft was bent.
“The robots suffer a lot of stress and wear and tear in the games…slamming around things and moving quickly,” the senior explained. “Sometimes, screws or a wire come loose, or something gets misaligned. We inspect the robot and fix any problems that might occur.”
It’s March again, and the Bulldog Bytes reported to Rockland Community College with their new robot for the annual FIRST® Robotics Hudson Valley Regional Competition. (For more information about the Bytes, see Irvington’s Low Budget, High-Tech ‘Bot’ Battles It Out In Rockland, Mar. 9, 2024.)
For four days, from March 18-21, the college’s Eugene Levy Field House hosted 48 robotics teams—some international—organized into three-team alliances fighting for three spots at the New York Tech Valley Regional in Albany to be held in mid-April. The ultimate goal is the FIRST national/world championship in Houston from April 29 to May 2.
First, a word about FIRST, the acronym (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) of a nonprofit founded by inventor Dean Kamen. This visionary’s mission is to inspire young people to pursue careers in STEM, (science, technology, engineering and math). Kamen developed the idea of applying these disciplines to a fast-paced sports competition using robots. And fast-paced it is. These are not the plodding automatons of yesteryear; they’re four-wheeled, low-riding vehicles zipping and spinning erratically at breakneck speed. Like overcharged bumper cars, they whirled around an “arena” the size of a small ice rink covered with dozens of yellow balls. The robots’ task was to scoop up as many balls as possible and fire them into large bins. Team members manned their computers at control booths directing their bots (three bots on a team, six on the floor together), which sometimes blasted the balls rapid-fire and other times sat immobile, possibly malfunctioning.
In between races, the Bytes had time to discuss the m.o. of their 18-member team. The complexity of robots is too much for one person to master, explained Junior Marcus Edme, so division of labor is essential. The Bytes are split into four units led by five co-captains, each of whom has a specialty area: two for coding (Edme is one), a mechanical or structural engineer (Rothman), electrical engineer for wiring, and a fundraiser/grant writer (robots cost money). And most of the technology the Bytes use isn’t taught in class, even in AP courses. The boys are on their own. “We [captains] research ourselves how to do things,” said Edme. “We have our captains learn about it, and they pass down the information to everyone else.” The team has a de factoapprenticeship system in which each rank-and-file member assists in a particular area, and after developing the skills of the captain, can become one himself. Rothman noted the “slow, steady improvement” in the team as a whole during his four years as a member. “As the club collectively gains knowledge, they can pass it on to the newcomers,” he said.
“They’re a well-oiled machine,” commented Bytes advisor Stefanie Brinkerhoff, now in her third year with the team. “They work really well together.” She said that the team purchases a new robot kit from FIRST every year as required, but cannibalizes its old bots for parts: reusable motors, electrical parts, or an essential component known in the robotics world as a swerve module. FUN FACT: In constructing their robots, participants must adhere to specifications laid out in FIRST’s rule book, which runs a mind-bending 168 pages.
So did the Bulldog Bytes win the competition? No. They were part of the 94% of teams who would just go back to the drawing board and wait for January when next year’s FIRST event kicks off.
Were the boys dejected? Absolutely not. Robotics is a passion for them: they were already preparing for another match. Said Lucas Topel: “I loved the competition.
[I] learned a lot from other teams and how the different mechanisms work.” Riley Ortman found the tournament “very, very well done, very fun. I’m not disappointed at all.” Edme, however, had mixed reactions. He was disappointed, he said, “because of wires disconnecting, and not due to our own merits.” Nevertheless, Edme’s cloud had a silver lining. “ I learned a lot about autonomous mode and how it works. Coming back even stronger next year,” he concluded.
For more information about FIRST, go to www.firstinspires.org.
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