January 4, 2005

Willow Glen teams well represented at Robotics Tournament

By Carol Rosen
Editor

A Lego robot serves a blind person dinner, another feeds a paralyzed person while an even more sophisticated robot opens a gate for someone with a debilitating disease.

Silent Revolution, a Castillero Middle School team is coached by Steve Honodel of Willow Glen. This photo was taken during the robotics challenge.  The team won the “Innovative Design” award, which qualifies them for the Jan. 8 northern California competition.

These were a just a few of the ideas unveiled at the San Jose Unified Robotics Tournament Saturday, Dec. 4. That day, 64 teams of fourth through eighth graders or more than 300 students, primarily from San Jose United School District, competed at Gunderson High School. San Jose Unified hosted the event.

The 9- to 14-year-old students had eight weeks to research and design Lego robots that would demonstrate problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship and a sense of community.

The challenge was for teams to research he needs of various disabled individuals and present robotics technology solutions to help individuals with different levels of physical ability perform the everyday actions most of us take for granted. The competition is judges in five areas: research and presentation; robot performance; technical mechanics of the robot’s construction; teamwork and gracious professionalism.  The highest honor will go to the team that best exemplifies the spirit and values of the program.

The teams met several times a week for up to six months to learn to work together as a team, researching how physically challenged people deal with everyday activities, building and then programming their robots. Parents who volunteered their time and energy coached these teams. Each team faced the same challenge: No limits!

Willow Glen students
There were about 12 teams containing Willow Glen students. Booksin had four teams, Willow Glen Elementary had two, River Glen had two, Willow Glen Middle School had five teams and Castillero had 13, with a percentage of the latter students from Willow Glen.

“As the mom of one of the boys who participated, I want to thank Deb Hollis for stepping up to leading a team. This was an area where she had absolutely no experience or past knowledge, but persevered to ensure that our Willow Glen boys had the opportunity to compete. She learned and grew and the boys came together as a team. It was an incredible experience and is one that has made a difference in the lives of those children,” said Catherine Edwards, whose 9-year-old son Jeremy was on one of the teams from Booksin.

The team, the RoboDudes of fourth to sixth graders won the Independent Team award, she added, because of the professional manner in which they handled a difficult situation. The boys also qualified for the Jan. 8 tournament. At the beginning of their round of competition, they didn’t have their coach or their robot. Just before their round began, they put in fresh batteries.

“The RCX froze and they had to reinstall the program from the computer,” Edwards added. “It was still downloading when they were escorted to the competition. The competition started and there was no Deb and no robot. Yet the boys maintained their cool and their dignity 90 seconds into the round. With only 60 seconds left, Deb raced in with the now-functioning robot. Despite the intense pressure, the boys began to solve the challenge in what little time was left.

The judges were impressed that this primarily elementary school team from Booksin held up independently.”

Another Booksin team, The Source, which was comprised of fifth grade boys, won the Innovative Research Project and qualified to compete in the Jan. 8 Northern California tournament. The two other Booksin teams were comprised of all girls, Sponge Botz Unlimited and Booksin Rosebuds.

Edwards’ other son Greg, who attends Castillero, was on that school’s Silent Revolution team. Those students won Innovative Design award and qualified for Jan. 8.

Congratulations to all
Congratulations to all 26 Willow Glen teams that participated. River Glen teams were the Quetzales and Los Robotes, which won an Against All Odds award. Willow Glen Elementary teams included the Goofbots and the Hobo Robos, which qualified for the Jan. 8 tournament. One team from Willow Glen Middle School, the Nemonoids won the first place award for Teamwork and also qualified for the Jan. 8 tournament. The Rambots, Cyber Rams, Robo Rams and Ramdriods from Willow Glen Middle School also participated.

Castilleros other winning teams were FuZz-E, which won a second place award for Innovative Programming and qualified for the Jan. 8 tournament; Robo Navigators, which received a first place for Research Quality and qualified; C.H.E.A.R. Girls, which won the Judges award and qualified; Enablers, winning a second place for Robust Programming and qualified for the Jan. 8 tournament; Springfield Retirement Center, which won a second place in Innovative Design and qualified; the Lemmings, a second place for teamwork and qualified; T.H.E. (The Technically Hyper Engineers), which won the Best Middle School award and qualified; and TaKkem, winning the Team Spirit award and qualified. The other participating teams were Robots Gone Wrong, Mario Brothers and the Incredible Nakz.

Founded by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was created to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.  FIRST LEGO® League is an international program for 9- to 14 year-old children created in partnership between FIRST and LEGO Company in 1998. Each September, FIRST LEGO® League announces the annual Challenge to teams, which engages them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. 

Using LEGO MINDSTORMS™ technologies and LEGO bricks, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build and program robots to sole real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.

Since its beginning, FIRST has had a positive impact on students and academic communities.  “We need to show kids that it’s more fun to design and create a video game than it is to play one,” said Dean Kamen, FIRST founder. “In FIRST LEGO® League, kids discover career possibilities and learn to make positive contributions to society.”  Currently in its sixth year, the FIRST LEGO® League anticipates its largest season ever with over 4,000 teams from around the world competing in qualifying events and tournaments.