Monthly Archives: February 2017

Last year marked the fourth straight year that Crescent Valley High Schools robotics team qualified for and traveled to the FIRST Robotics world championship.

That meant, of course, that the team had a group of experienced senior leaders who had traveled with the team to the world championship every year.

But it also meant that the team lost seven or eight seniors, mostly from the design and build teams, after last season, said Matthew Sundberg, this years captain and a CV senior who has been on the team since his freshman year.

Sundberg said that this year's team has just five seniors, and their experience is less concentrated in the design and build areas (some come from the business/fundraising/marketing side of the team).

Its been fun and quite a challenge this year; we lost a lot of experienced members last year, he said.

But it's a challenge that comes with opportunity: a large group of new team members.

Were bouncing back," he said. "Its really exciting to focus on new members this year."

Natalie Dupuy, also a CV senior in her fourth year on the team and captain of the business team, said about half of the 36 members are new to the team and most of those are freshmen.

The team is meeting three days a week to work on building its robot for the FIRST Robotics Competition, an event with thousands of teams from the United States and across the world. It tasks teams of high school students with designing and building a robot in just six weeks for a new challenge each year. The teams then bring their robots to regional competitions and play games in small alliances; the winners at those competitions can qualify for regional and then world championship events.

This years challenge involves having robots help teams collect fuel (in the form of whiffle balls) and gears needed for them to power an airship (the control platform the students pilot from). The whiffle balls must be tossed into a target high off the ground and the gears must be placed precisely on pegs. Teams can also earn points at the end of the match by having their robot climb the airship.

Dupuy said the team members have prepared for this build season by doing an unofficial off-season competition, BunnyBot, during the fall. The competition is intended to give new team members a lower-stakes chance to learn to build a robot over a longer build season. According to Dupuy, the CV team has participated in BunnyBot in past years, but often during the competition, seniors would take over finishing the robot in the last weeks so that it would be competition-ready. This year, though, the juniors and seniors didnt touch the robot being built for BunnyBot.

Dupuy said she enjoyed being able to repay the people who trained her by passing her knowledge onto new team members.

Its amazing that years ago someone did that for me, and Im finally able to share, she said.

However, with the end of build season coming Feb. 21, Sundberg said the team is behind where it wants to be: In past years, he said, the drive system was working at this point and team members were focusing on adding other systems to the robot, but this year they arent that far.

He said after team members complete the drive system, they will prioritize completing mechanisms to collect gears for the airship and a climbing mechanism. If time allows, they will add a mechanism for collecting and shooting the whiffle ball fuel for the airship. The programming team is working on software for the robot that would use cameras to help automate some of their processes.

We may not go for every feature we planned, but well be happy with it, he said.

Sundberg said robotics is a great opportunity for high school students to get hands-on experience with engineering and business.

Dupuy added that shes formed a lot of friendships through robotics: including classmates at CV, members of Corvallis High School's robotics team, and even people from all over the world at championship events.

I refer to it as my family of nerds, she said.

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Crescent Valley robotics focused on developing freshmen - Corvallis Gazette Times

Have you wondered why something said by a person makes such a deep impact on our minds?Its got to do with the way our brains are wired: they find what they inherently want or like and make it their own. In other words, we internalise what we like as a person.Rajesh Manpats story is also something like this.

When 32-year-old Rajesh heard Infosys founder Narayana Murthy say, No earth shattering idea has been born out of India for the last 60 years, it made a great impact on his mind. Thats because deep down he was an innovator and in Murthys words he found a challenge as well as inspiration.Rajesh had always been passionate about technological innovation. Having been in the automation industry since 2009, Rajesh had developed several inspection automation solutions.But as a subliminal response to Murthys words, he went ahead and built Ark Robot.

Rajesh also gives a part of the credit for Ark Robot to KIVA Systems (now Amazon Robotics), the pioneers of mobile robots for warehouse automation. Before getting ready to execute the Ark Robot project, Rajesh visited one of the largest warehouses in India to gauge the problems they faced. He spent the next few days designing and refining the concept for Ark Robot. But before building Ark Robot, he launched iFuture Robotics in June 2016 as its maker.

The Ark in Ark Robot stands for Autonomous Robot for Known environment. It is a mobile robot that can navigate autonomously to any location in a known workspace. The arms and grippers of the robot can be used to store and retrieve inventory. A server communicates between many robots in a single environment and sends each robot a task. The server talks to customer websites and routes work to independent robots in real-time.

Earlier, manpower had to run miles all around the warehouse to find goods and carefully bring them to the exit point. Another thing to be considered is that manpower efficiency is not consistent, and varies throughout the day due to fatigue. Human personnel also need constant monitoring and trainingand require the supply of lights and air-conditioning.

Rajesh, who did a bachelor's in Computer Science from PES University (Bengaluru) and an MBA from Karnataka State Open University, says,

"Our robots assist manpower by bringing the required goods to the pick stations. Now, a worker in the warehouse is required to sit at one place, with the goods coming to him efficiently and accurately. Just like in any other industry, there are definite advantages in automation here - machines can be faster and durable, and see better ROI when compared to manual operations.

In 2013, Rajesh invented Elite Scorer, an electronic target system for rifle shooting sport and the defence market. It is used to score targets in real-time and provide a digital display of shot locations. According to Rajesh, Elite Scorer was a success, having sold in 26 countries, and is a patented product.

The Elite Scorer project enabled Rajesh to build a team with technical expertise, gain financial strength, and understand the product development lifecycle. He says,

There were many opportunities I came across, such as in the defence, medical or dental fields. But I decided to work on robotics as it is a subject that I feel very passionate about. I had twice attempted to get into robotics since 2010, but lacked the financial resources to venture into it at the time.

Before stumbling into the world of entrepreneurship, Rajesh was a national level rifle shooting championand won many medals. He was part of the national squad in 2007 before he decided to start up with iFuture Systems in 2008, with a seed capital of Rs 5,000. iFuture Systems, under which he built Elite Scorer, was Rajeshs first venture.

Rajesh now boasts of having nine years of experience in building machine vision systems, automation machines and control systems. He claims to have 10 India and US patents applications in various fields.

Since Ark Robot won the Qualcomm Design in India challenge, resulting in Qualcomm becoming their investor, they gained access to technical, strategy and intellectual property advice from the telecommunications equipment giant. Prior to leveraging Qualcomm as a technology partner, Ark Robot solely relied on shelf embedded hardware. Qualcomm Innovation Lab has also given Ark Robot access to Qualcomm products that are built for IoT applications. Ark Robot is being deployed by a few leading e-commerce companies as a part of a pilot study, according to Rajesh.

Ark Robot also offers a parcel sorting system as a separate product to logistics companies, and the product is gaining significant traction as well. Bengaluru-based Ark Robot currently has a team of 30 members, and the number will likely go up to 40 by the end of February. The startup, at present, is focusing on the domestic market, with plans to go global in the next two years.

The industrial robotics market globally is expected to reach $ 79.58 billion by 2022, according to a report by Markets and Markets. Among the key drivers of this growth are factors like demand for collaborative industrial robots from small and medium-scale enterprises in China, Japan, South Korea and India, and the increasing investments in countries such as India to fuel the manufacturing sector as a part of the Make in India initiative.

Among the hardware startups that are striving to make a mark in the robotics industry is Bengaluru-based space startup Team Indus, which is planning to launch a mission on December 28 this year through ISROs PSLV rocket. Gurgaon-based Grey Orange designs and builds products to help e-commerce, logistics and manufacturing companies improve productivity and automate processes in their warehouse operations. i2u2, another prominent player in the space, enables users to be virtually present at the location where the robot is, thereby allowing people to interact, monitor, or move around with family, friends, and colleagues. It can be controlled remotely through a mobile, tablet, or PC via an app connected to the internet.

Website:iFuture Robotics

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iFuture Robotics cuts manpower needs of warehouses with its mobile robots - YourStory.com

The Edge FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team members (from left) Eddie Noll, Matt Lesch, Joey Self, and Muffin Tanks team members Sam Bradin, coach Heinz Bourquin and Lucas Bourquin drive their robots to a first-place finish at the FTC State Championship held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 4. The teams advanced to super-regional competition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in March.(Photo: Submitted)

Four prequalified teams from the Hartland area competed at the 2017 Wisconsin State Championship for FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)Tech Challenge (FTC) on Feb.4: The Edge, team 10294, The Knack, team 9956and rookie teams Muffin Tanks, team 11490, and Formal Emus, team 11353.

A total of 24 teams from around Wisconsin met at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to compete in the 2016-17 game Velocity Vortex.

The Velocity Vortex challenge started in September when teams around the world learned the rules of this year's game. Teams design, build and program a robot to complete challenges in the game, played on a 12-foot square field on a soft mat floor. The challenges are worth points during a three-minute match.Alliances of two teams face off in each match, which starts with an autonomous period where robots operate using only preprogrammed instructions, according to the FIRST website atfirstinspires.org.

Each match has two periods of play:the30 second autonomous period, followed by a two-minute driver-controlled period during which drivers attempt to score points by placing particles (small balls) andcap balls (exercise balls), triggering beacons for their alliance or parking the robot on specific parts of the field. The last 30 seconds of the game is the end game, which adds new scoring opportunities.

Students are also required to keep an engineering notebook detailing their design, building and programming process.

The Edge, along with Muffin Tanks won the 2017 FTC State Championship along with their alliance partner, the Supposable Thumbs, team 4106from New Berlin.The Edge will now advance to the North Super-Regionalin Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in March.

The Edge team members are Reagan Zimmerman, Ryan Tabor, Joey Self, Matthew Lesch, Nick Noll, Eddie Noll, Alex Noll and Paul Schlager. They are coached by Kent Tabor, Kirk Noll, Louisa Self, Kevin Self and Debbie Rypkema.

Four Hartland area FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams competed at the 2017 Wisconsin State Championship on Feb. 4 at the Universwity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. FTC rookie team 22490 Muffin Tanks (left), FTC team 10294 The Edge (middle), and FTC team 9956 The Knack (right) are pictured at the state competition. FTC team 11353 Formal Emus also competed.(Photo: Submitted)

The Muffin Tanks team includes Lucas Bourquin, Sam Bradin, Jacob Johnson, Erik Giess, Saniya Saluja, who are coached by Heinz Bourquin and Chris Mehling.

Hartland area students in grades seventhrough 12 interested in robotics can join this program sponsored by FIRST, who also supports FIRST Lego League (FLL) at grade schools and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) at high schools. FTC teams usually have sixto 12 students coached by parents and community volunteers who have an interest in teaching students about technology.

To learn more about FIRST robotics programs visitfirstinspires.org.

FIRST Tech Competition (FTC) team The Edge members (from left) Eddie Noll, Matt Lesch and Joey Self drive their robot and place an exercise ball (cap ball) onto the goal in the final seconds of a game at the FTC State Championship at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Feb. 4. Capping the goal counts for 40 points in the game.(Photo: Submitted)

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Hartland robotics teams take on the FIRST Tech challenge at state competition - Lake Country Now

Botetourt 4-H Phoenix Robotics is a FIRST Robotics Competition team based in Botetourt County. Each year student team members assemble a robot to complete various tasks and compete in tournaments across the state and even more. 4-H through the Phoenix Robotics focuses on teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to youth, promoting youth leadership, positive youth development and youth cooperation and providing learning opportunities for students. Their team consists of students from sixth to twelfth grade and mentors with experience in technology, teaching, money management and organization. The opportunities to give service to the community, build unforgettable experiences and learn skills for modern industry for their members are all because of FIRST's mission and commitment to STEM and 4-Hs commitment to positive youth development.

Botetourt 4-H Phoenix Robotics, previously James River Robotics, formed in 2012 with nine members and two mentors. Their first year proved difficult as FIRST makes every game fun and challenging while James River Robotics was inexperienced. Last year their head coach left the Botetourt County School System and when another faculty coach could not be found, the team found themselves searching for a supporting organization. After many meetings and discussions through the summer, the team was welcomed as a new Botetourt County 4-H community club and Botetourt County 4-H now supports the team and acts as the main sponsor of the team activities and events. Since its beginning, the team has diversified, gained experience and grown to over thirty members. This year there are students representing Central Academy Middle School, Read Mountain Middle School, James River High School and Lord Botetourt High School.

Phoenix Robotics Students have been meeting together as a team since Jan. 7 and must have their robot finished by Feb. 21. Success in early competitions qualifies the students to go to the FIRST Championship, the biggest robotics competition in FIRST, located in St. Louis, MO. If they win, the whole team will be eligible for $25 million in scholarships and will have the honor of being FIRST Steamworks Champion.

"FIRST Steamworks" has three main features: fuel, gears and rope. The robot collects fuel and scores it in one of the two goals of the boiler. A human player gives the robot a gear that it can deliver to a lift that scores the team even more points. At the end of the match a rope is lowered for the robot to climb. The team with the most points at the end wins.

FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an organization devoted to promoting STEM through sportsmanlike competition known as "Gracious Professionalism." Founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, and Woodie Flowers, a Professor of Engineering at MIT, FIRST has grown from a small organization in New England with a few hundred teams to an international phenomenon with over thirty-eight thousand teams and almost half a million members. Each year FIRST designs new challenges from teams to solve, requiring them to rethink their approach each season. One of the most complex and interactive challenges is this years game, "FIRST Steamworks".

Submitted by Georgia Honts

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Botetourt 4-H Phoenix Robotics team sets sights on success - Roanoke Times