{"id":28599,"date":"2013-01-13T16:03:28","date_gmt":"2013-01-14T00:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=28599"},"modified":"2013-01-15T18:19:58","modified_gmt":"2013-01-16T02:19:58","slug":"students-ring-it-up-for-first-tech-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/01\/13\/students-ring-it-up-for-first-tech-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Students \u2018Ring it Up!\u2019 for FIRST Tech Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(L to R) Andrew Deshields, Guillermo Ortiz, and Isai Rocha are on the Bot Squad team at SOAR High School. The team was one of nearly two dozen robotics teams from high schools across the country that took park in the FIRST Tech Challenge qualifying tournament at Desert Christian High School on Saturday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 The Bot Squad from SOAR High School spent the past 10 Saturdays \u2013 and countless hours during the week \u2013 designing, building, and programming their robot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent one month of prototyping, and it was basically trial and error,\u201d said team member Isai Rocha. \u201cEach of us took apart different sections and different parts of the robot, and once we were finished, we came together and basically built the robot itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their hard work paid off.<\/p>\n

Bot Squad Team 5011 from SOAR High School and Garagebots Team 72 from Lancaster High School formed the winning alliance that nabbed the top spot at the FIRST Tech Challenge qualifying tournament on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The robotics tournament was hosted by PHI Robotics at Desert Christian High School, and brought together nearly two dozen teams from high schools across the country.<\/p>\n

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Students from Quartz Hill High School’s robotics team took part in the tournament.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe purpose of this competition is to make it to the Los Angeles Regional competition, and from there, winners from the regional competition will make it to Worlds [Championship], which is in St. Louis,\u201d said PHI Robotics volunteer Taylor Bachtelle.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s FIRST Tech Challenge qualifying tournament is also known as the Ring It Up Challenge, where students use home-built robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams.<\/p>\n

Ring It Up! is played on a 12\u2019x12\u2019 diamond shaped field. Two alliances comprised of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a 30-second autonomous period followed by a two-minute driver controlled period.<\/p>\n

The objective of the game is to score more points than your opponent\u2019s alliance by placing plastic rings onto pegs on the center rack. Teams are also challenged to detect special \u201cweighted\u201d rings to earn a special multiplier bonus. (View a video below that details the Ring It Up! Game or read a one page summary here<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

Four local high schools competed in the tournament Saturday \u2013 SOAR High School, Lancaster High School, Paraclete High School, and Quartz Hill High School.<\/p>\n

More than 100 spectators came out the cheer on the students.<\/p>\n

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Paraclete High School’s robotics team also competed Saturday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Proud parent Wayne Ringelberg came out to support his son, Nathan, who is part of Paraclete High School’s Robotics team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just started last year and they\u2019ve already progressed quite a bit to where they\u2019re actually pretty competitive,\u201d Ringelberg said. \u201cIt\u2019s been great for Nathan to get involved in a project like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tournament organizers said the story of the day was the \u201cSpirit for FIRST Award\u201d which went to Team 6685 from Downtown Magnets High School in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The team only had one member that showed up with only a box of parts and no robot, said organizer Kathy Stinson. PHI Robotics took the guy under their wing, and after a short trip to the PHI garage, a quick robot was built for Team 6685, Stinson said.<\/p>\n

The robot passed inspection, and Team 6685 was able to compete, ranking 10th place for the tournament with a robot that was only seven hours old. Team 6685 ended up taking home the \u201cJudges- Spirit for FIRST Award,\u201d Stinson said.<\/p>\n

For more information on the FIRST Tech Challenge qualifying tournament, visit http:\/\/www.usfirst.org\/roboticsprograms\/ftc <\/a>\u00a0or view the video below.
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