Local Robotics Teams Excel

If you think scientists and engineers are quiet people who sit behind desks, where the most exercise they get is from pushing their thick-rimmed glasses up the bridge of their noses, think again.

Enter the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics Competition at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood. This is more like a professional wrestling event than an extreme science fair. Loud rock music blares from everywhere and a very enthusiastic DJ-like announcer jumps into the ring, or playing field, announcing the teams.

This is science gone wild.

Teams from Crescenta Valley High, Clark Magnet High, Flintridge Preparatory and LA Academy of Literacy and the Arts joined 50 other high school teams in the regional competition last weekend. The Crescenta Valley High team advanced to finals, while the Clark Magnet team finished its competition by winning the Innovators' award.

Each year teams get new rules for the competition. This year the robot had to throw as many balls through a hoop as they can in an allotted time, with extra points for various equipment such as a camera as a remote way of lining up the shot to the hoop or the ability to roll onto a platform. Standing behind a clear wall, students moved the robots through remote control instruments. Something new this year was teaming with two other high schools as partners in the competition. Teams had to learn to work together.

CVHS and Clark were busy over the three-day competition, making certain that the robots they worked according to their plans. The CVHS team was a little calmer than in the past competitions. Usually there is a lot of running around trying to find out what had gone wrong and how to fix it. This time things in the CVHS camp were different. The overall feeling was one of confidence.

"We understand as a group what we are doing," Raffi Attarian, co-captain of the team, said. He added that the team did many things this year to be prepared. The most important was a review panel that consisted of mentors in the fields of technology that advised and helped the team.

"The most brutal [reviews] were the most helpful," team member Jeff Campana said. "After one really brutal session we changed our entire design."