King's Robotics teams ready to leave for world competition

Updated and corrected 4-20-2012 9:10pm 

Students and mentors work on robots in King's classroom
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

By Steven H. Robinson, with additional material from Jessica Dawson

On Tuesday, April 23,  the 17 members of the Varsity and Junior Varsity Robotics Teams from King's High School will be leaving for St. Louis, Missouri to complete in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championship robotics competition.

Students Randall, Christian, and Danny with robot
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The FIRST Tech Challenge, held from April 25 to 28, welcomes 2,100 teams and 21,000 students from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands. The FIRST Tech program provides students with hands-on science and technology experience and access to more than $9.7 million in college scholarships for 2012. 

FIRST - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

The King's students have completed more than 14,500 person hours planning, developing and building working robots to showcase in the international competition.

Student and teacher Mike Thompson
work on robot software
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Under the leadership of head coach and math teacher Mikel Thompson, the students are split into three teams: Building, Software and Support.  The varsity and junior varsity team will both compete as part of 128 teams from around the world.  The 128 Teams will be divided into two different sections to compete in a kind of double elimination round.  This could mean the varsity and junior varsity teams could compete with each other if they both do well.  

Last year, the King’s High School varsity team finished among the top eight teams in the world.

The Robotics team has had two mentors this year, Mike Pringle and Todd Rudberg.  Todd works for Electroimpact, in the Mukilteo area, owned by Peter Zieve. Electroimpact supported the students with company products so students were able to use commercial equipment to build their robots.

Practice arena with crates of balls
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The competition will consist of four team robots at one time picking up three crates at different times and placing a ball in each crate until they have the three crates upright.  Then the robot will need to raise the three carts in unison to the highest extension possible, which for the King’s High School teams will be 14 feet in the air.  The different rounds last 3 minutes.

The teams gathered with their robots for one last time on Monday, April 16, before shipping the robots to Missouri.

King's High School is part of CRISTA Ministries, located in Shoreline, Washington.

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Shorewood's Team Pronto Robots - the end of a season

By Wes Proudlove, Team Advisor

Shorewood's own Team Pronto Robots has come to an end of another season. We have had our ups and downs but though it all we have learned valuable lessons. "No idea is too small," "team work will always best individual effort," "if you have fun in what you are doing it's no longer work," "what you learn in robotics relates to everything in life," and most importantly - "math and science can be fun if you just add a robot into the formulas."

Spokane was our last shot this year to make it to the World Championships. Hank (our robot) played hard and had some great triumphs but when the teams were chosen we did not come out on top.

Team Pronto in Spokane - students, advisors, mentors, teachers
Photo by Veronica Cook

Team Pronto took time during the event to go help other teams program robots, help with construction problems and show a rookie team how all the endless piles of paperwork can be gotten though without much hair loss (I lost my hair before Team Pronto).

Hank #3070 must share the teeter board and balance in place
Photo by Veronica Cook

Hank balanced multiple times on the teeter totter under the capable hands of Austin Buchanan. Austin even got Hank to balance while resting on top of another robot - that's some crazy skills. Human full field baskets were made by Max Hundhausen, AJ Harpring and Nick Teeters, not a easy shot at all to make. Of the 16 members of Team Pronto at the event, 12 got to take the field at one time or another in front of thousands of screaming fans.

Katy Kuznetsova won Safety Star of the Day
Photo by Veronica Cook

Once again Team Pronto's own Katy Kuznetsova won Safety Star of the Day on Friday. This is an award only given to one team per day at the events. Katy is now a 3 time winner and has hopes of winning it all, come next year's events.

As head mentor and head advisor, I would like to give my thanks to the students for filling my life with so much excitement, entertainment, and thoughts of what the future holds.

It takes a team to tune a robot
Photo by Veronica Cook

A special thanks must must must be given to the other two Shorewood teachers who accompanied us on our trip to Spokane. Veronica Cook: for always setting the students on the right path, sometimes with soft spoken, kind words; other times a much harder nudge. Veronica was also the official team photo journalist taking hundreds of pictures of our students, Hank and mentors. Thanks to Tammy Ceesay for all the smiles, laughs, kind words and compassion for the students and their well being. 

Advisor Wes Proudlove and team members watching the competition
Photo by Veronica Cook

Sorry, Tammy, that you had to put up with the students' feet on the trip over. It smelled like skunks and we will have to cure that for next year. It was such a pleasure to have you two along, it really made my time much more enjoyable. Tammy and Veronica, you have been now indoctrinated as Team Pronto members. There is no going back. You're like a zombie but much happier with fewer body parts falling off.

A special thanks to mentors Daryl Mondor, Eric Holton, Lee White, Patrick Chiang, and Feng Gao who all traveled and stayed at their own expense to help out our students and be a part of the craziness.

Next year is fast approaching and who knows - you too could become a Team Pronto addict like us. There is no cure for the robotic fever. Skunk smell can't even keep us away.

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"Hank the Tank" part 2 - Shorewood Team Pronto plays robot basketball

The Seattle Regional Robotic Competition has come and gone in a flash and Team Pronto's" Hank the Tank" competed strongly the whole time. Hank and Team Pronto were in the battle from Thursday to Saturday with hardly a time to catch our breaths or charge Hank's batteries.

(See previous article)

Team Pronto had to get Hank up and running and through tech inspection on Thursday. Then Friday all day and Saturday up until noontime was filled with competition rounds. Hank battled 13 times. Sometimes only minutes after leaving the field, the kids and Hank had to be ready to return for another round.

The 40 members of the Shorewood Team Pronto pose with Hank

The robots played 3 on 3 basketball on a full size court. In the first 30 seconds of the event the robot has a preprogramed play time where it may move and shoot baskets. Then the students take over the controls, battling for control of basketballs and taking shots that any NBA or MIT would be proud of.

In the last 30 seconds of each round the robots have to balance cooperatively on a teeter totter with robots from other teams, while students take full court shots at the basket over the teeter totters. It was truly a balancing act.

Imagine that one wrong move will send a robot worth thousands of dollars tumbling off the teeter totter to the hard floor some 2 feet below. With the robots weighing up to 160 pounds those drops to the floor can create damage that will remove a robot from any further competitions.

Luckily Hank never had to endure the drop to the floor. In fact at one point Hank saved another robot from hitting the floor. When a teammate's robot was driven off the end of the teeter totter, Hank came into action. Our driver, Nick Teeters (his real name), saw the robot falling and got between it and the teeter totter to hold up the falling robot. The crowd of thousands gave a round of cheers to our driver and Hank for his fast thinking and great work.

Hank was ranked at high as number 1 and as low as 39, but in the end we came out with 23rd place out of 50. This ranking was not enough to get us to the championship rounds but that is not the only point of competing in robotics.

The students have poured their hearts and souls into Hank. To see how the students have grown makes all the mentors and advisors so proud. Teams from Turkey, Mexico and all over the US were competing in Seattle. Team Members have made many new friends at the event and look forward to keeping in contact in the off season.

Hank and Team Pronto will get another chance to compete to go to the World Championships. Some members of Team Pronto will be traveling April 4th to compete in the first ever Spokane Robotics Competition at Eastern Washington University in Cheney WA. Hank is getting some well deserved rest and Team Pronto members are having debriefings to see what can be done to improve on Hank's play and our overall team.

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Robotics team - Questions & Answers

This week I had so many wonderful people come to talk to me and members of Shorewood's Team Pronto at the Seattle Regional Robotics competition.  We would love to thank all the people who came to cheer on our students and Hank. 

During the event I took the time to ask people who had never seen a robotic event before what they thought of this craziness and here are some of the comments, questions and my answers.

• "This is way more fun then watching students try to hurt each other on a football field"
• "I can't believe students created a robot" answer: Yes, they did.
• "The governor and members of state senate were here it must be very important"
• "This is the most positive event I have ever been to with teenagers"
• "My granddaughter didn't want to come to the event - she thought it was for boys. Now that she is here, she is looking forward to being on a robotic team in high school."

Hank poses with members of the Shorewood Team Pronto

"I have been an engineer for 30 years and am about to retire. How can I get involved in this?" 

Answer: Contact USFIRST, find a team in your area, and get ready to have some fun.

"This must be so costly for your school" 

Answer: No, not really. Sponsors and mentors pick up almost all of the costs. Students will pay more for a yearbook then for being a part of this team.

"All this put together in 6 weeks of build - how cool!" 

Answer: Yes, 6 weeks and thousands of hours of effort by the students.

"Wish this was a part of my high school" 

Answer: Don't we all. But come help out a team now - it's not too late. Show the students we do care about them and their future.

"How do I sign up my child for this?" 

Answer: contact USFIRST robotics, then get involved at your child's school to get a team started.

"Where is all the media coverage? Who do we contact to get this covered on TV?" 

Answer: I have been trying for years - got any ideas?

"How can I find a team in my town that does this, that I may help them out?" 

Answer: contact USFIRST robotics.

"You should be proud of your kids" 

My answers: I am proud of all kids involved whether on my team or another team. They are our future and from where I am sitting it looks so bright to me.

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Shorewood robot "Hank" to play in basketball tournament

Shorewood Hank - basketball playing robot
Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools

By Wesley Proudlove

Starting this Thursday March 22nd, Team Pronto will be competing in the Seattle Regional Robotic event at Century Link Center (big building between Safeco Field and Century Link Field).

On Thursday Team Pronto will be setting up its pits and getting Hank (that's our robot) inspected and practicing on the field for the first time.

Friday will be the start of the competition. Around 9am Friday will be the first round and then the fun begins. Saturday Hank will still be competing for a place in the final 8 of the event. Starting at 1pm on Saturday the championship rounds will begin.

See the full schedule here. All events are free to the public.

We know that Hank in up to the task so lets all cheer him and our students to victory.

All the robots will be playing 3 on 3 basketball and then will have to balance on a teeter totter with other robots. There will be over 100 teams from all over the world competing to gain a trip to the world championships later in April.

Here's a YouTube video explaining the rules of robot basketball.

Team Pronto Robotics is a student organized club (someday it will be a sport I am sure of that) with just over 40 members who have in six weeks constructed a 5 foot tall basketball-playing robot.

Team Pronto mentors are from Boeing, Microsoft, F5 Networks, UW Robotic Labs, Shoreline School District and UW Students all with an eye on our students' future. These mentors give of their personal time, energy and money to help our students succeed.

For all the bad things that are seen in the media these days please come change your perspective of teenagers and see the great things they can do with a solid direction. 

Hope to see all of you at the event to cheer on Hank and our students.

Look for our new Team Pronto shirts - they are brilliant orange. Come sit in the stands or visit the pits to congratulate our students on a job well done.

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King's Robotics team finishes eighth in the world

The King’s High School robotics team CyberDaze made it to the semi finals of the FIRST Tech Challenge and finished eighth in the world. Last year, in their first appearance at the competition, the King’s High School robotics team finished in the top 18. 

See previous article

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Kings High School robotics team on their way to world championships

Kings High School robotics teams

The Kings High School held a send-off celebration on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 for the varsity and junior varsity robotics teams before they departed for the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championship in St. Louis to be held April 27-30, 2011.

School staff, the Knight mascot, the cheer team and other Kings Schools students were on hand to wish the robotics team luck as they departed for the FTC World Championship.

The students, ranging from 15 to 19 years old, have completed more than 4,200 hours planning, developing and building working robots to showcase in the international competition.

The FIRST Challenge welcomes more than 128 teams and 10,000 students from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands. The FIRST Tech program provides students with hands-on science and technology experience and access to $14.7 million in college scholarships for 2011.

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Shorewood robotics team to compete in regional event at Qwest Field

This weekend, Team Pronto from Shorewood High School will join over 2,800 high school students at the QWEST Convention Center regional robotics event to compete for the right to go to the World's Competition in St. Louis in April.

These high school students had six weeks to design, prototype, and build a robot to perform a specific task. And now is the moment of truth. FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology.

This free event is the largest Regional event in the world. Two separate fields with 50 teams on each field, joining together in alliances of teams of 3 to try to make it to the Championship. Come check out these young engineers in training.

As an added attraction, the Da Vinci Robot http://www.davincisurgery.com/ – the Robot that assists doctors in performing complex surgeries, will be on site on Friday and Saturday.

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