Robot on the Way to Regional Competition
The AIS iHOT (International House of Technology) team successfully shipped its robot off to the regional competition on Tuesday, February 20. The six-week build season started on January 6, unleashing a torrent of activity that involved over 40 AIS students in such varied activities as robot engineering, programming, electronics, animation, website, public relations and finance. The iHOT team is in its fourth season participating in FIRST, an international competition started by inventor Dean Kamen of Segway fame. The team has had a very successful history, winning the national rookie award its first season, national and regional animation awards, and last year winning the regional competition to earn a place at the national competition.
This year's robot must be able to pick up "ringers" (plastic life preservers) and place them on an octagonal "rack" at three different heights (two, five and eight feet high). The ingenuity, skills and dedication of the students are astounding. With only the slightest guidance from mentors, the students, led by co-captains Adrien Pellerin and Matthew Keeter along with engineering team-leader Martijn ten Lohuis, have designed, built and tested an incredibly capable robot. Undaunted by equipment limitations, failures of various parts and even a self-imposed catastrophic breakdown or two, the team has overcome every obstacle to produce a robot that drew envious glances from many other teams at a pre-competition scrimmage. Working every day after school as well as long hours over weekends and marathon sessions in the final week, the students displayed a tenacity and determination that are simply amazing.
The Regional Competition will be held on March 15–17 in the Gwinnett Civic Center. As in past years, the team will vie for the right to go on to the national competition, and from the looks of this year's robot, should be in strong contention. The team hopes to have lots of support from the student body and to once again win the Spirit Award. It is another great year for AIS robotics!