Robotics club ready for competitions
November 25, 2008
By Christopher Huber
Members of the Eastlake High School robotics team reassemble part of their robot Nov. 19 at Eastlake. Photos by Christopher Huber
It was pitch-dark outside and the school corridors were barely lit. No one but the custodians was left in the building. No one, that is, except for members of the Eastlake High School robotics club. They congregated in D122 and watched the Ball State-Central Michigan football game as they waited to start their work.
They came together Nov. 19, like always — Mondays and Fridays at 7 p.m. — not to watch football, but to work on a new robot, which some jokingly called Wall-E.
The club, which was started in 2004 by former student Tyler Evans, met to work out a few kinks in the 18-by-18-inch robot’s design and plan for an upcoming competition. They’re preparing it for the FIRST Tech Challenge Dec. 14 at Bellevue High School.This is the first year Eastlake 1294 (the number refers to the order in which they joined the competitions) has entered the late-fall competition, but Steve Evans, one of the club’s advisors, said entering early and often during the school year gets the students much needed real-world experience in engineering and mechanics.
“The big thing is getting the kids experience,” Evans said. “They’re going to have a whole competition season under their belts before even the January ones start.”
FIRST, which means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, will host the events the team competes in this year.
For the upcoming event, approximately 24 teams from around Washington will descend on Bellevue High School with their kit robots for the state championship, Evans said.
To do well at the competition, the robot must pick up as many hockey pucks as possible and drop them into various containers.
It might sound simple, but the students spend nearly two hours each meeting redesigning the chassis, fine-tuning parts and measurements for the scoop and arm and programming commands to load into the central processor.
Students said they enjoy the mechanical and technical problem solving aspects of building a robot.
As he tweaked the robot’s arm, Senior Nick Meyers said the fun of it is “when you hit a wall and you have to think about it. The problem solving is just incredible.”
Meyers, like many of the dozen regular members of the club, enjoys building things and designing the robots with computer programs.
He also said this year is different — better — than last year because each project has more people involved.
Last year the club had around six members, but more people means more input and ideas on the table.
“It’s different because three people are on the same thing,” Meyers said. “Reflecting on it, it’s working a lot better.”
The Tech Challenge in December is just the beginning for Eastlake 1294. Evans said they plan to enter a few more events, including the Microsoft Seattle Regional, March 26 at Key Arena. There they will compete against 50-60 teams from around the world.
Although it is expensive — some competitions cost $3,000 to enter and robots cost $1,000-$5,000 — the Eastlake Robotics Club receives much of its funding from outside companies like Boeing and Microsoft. The club also recently received a grant from the Lake Washington Schools Foundation.
The club has high hopes for this season. Last year, they placed 7th overall in the Microsoft Seattle Regional, held in Tacoma. Evans said this year will be challenging, but competing in Bellevue is an important first step.
“The Seattle one will be tough this year because there will be 60 teams, but I think we’ll end up doing better than we did last year,” Evans said. “They’ll have their hands full.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or at chuber@isspress.com.
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