Robots, Teens Compete in Regional Contest

After six weeks of construction and wiring, it all came down to three days of intense competition for students in the robotics teams from Crescenta Valley and Clark Magnet high schools. The atmosphere at the Great Western Forum was so tense you could cut it with wire cutters.

The pressure so intense, competitors couldn't remember simple things like the gravitational pull of the moon. This was not the time to forget your basic calculus skills. This was competition. This is what all the hard work came down to - the regional robotics competition sponsored by For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST.

CVHS team nickname and robot's name is FalKON. The Clark team and their robot are named GLAGH, which stands for "Good Luck and Good Hunting," a phrase used by Dennis Henderson, a beloved Clark teacher who recently died. They joined 52 teams from Toronto to Phoenix for competition last weekend.

Since 1991, FIRST has challenged high school students to build a better robot. The mission of FIRST is to "create a world where science and technology are celebrated," according to founder Dean Kamen, inventor of the first wearable drug infusion pump, the first portable insulin pump and, most recently, the Segway Human Transporter.

The competition is in stages of short games played by remote-controlled robots. Competing teams are told the type of games and the tasks the robots must perform six weeks prior to competition. This year, each robot had to pick up a pyramid-shaped object, a tetrahedron for the geometrically minded, and place it on a goal. An added bonus was given if the robot could recognize the "tetras'" different colors.

"Each robot had a camera," said CVHS math teacher and robotics director Win Saw. "Our robot recognized the colors, like neon green."

However, the team had trouble with the robot's arm. "The kids made adjustments to the design and made it work," Saw said. Unfortunately, because the arm did not work continuously, CVHS did not place in the competition.

Clark's robotics team won the bronze medal.

The competition has grown every year, from 11 teams in the beginning to more than 900 teams worldwide today. Robots can now display the logo of a sponsoring company. One of the CVHS team's sponsors is T-shirt company "Angry Girl," whose company name is displayed on the back of the robot.

Even though the robotics competition is over, CVHS will still be working on their robot, perfecting the arm for graduation day. Every year, the robot presents the plaque to the school's valedictorian - and this year will be no exception.

"We will make it work," said Saw.