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Buena’s robot makers rule the state
By Cindy Skalsky
Herald/Review
Published on Tuesday, June 12, 2007
SIERRA VISTA — The Nifty Engineering Robotics Design Squad of Buena High School made a big splash in Chandler over the weekend when six of its members took both first place in the high school division and the Overall Event Winner trophies at the first Honeywell Hometown Solutions National Underwater Robotics Challenge.
Hosted by Chandler High School, the three-day event brought together three university, one junior college and five high school teams.
Gary Forbes holds “The Tacky Sponge,†an underwater robot built by himself and his fellow Buena High School students. The robot received top honors in last weekend’s statewide competition. (Photo courtesy of Faridodin Lajvardi)
Buena’s score topped them all.
“We only put the kit together about three weeks ago,†said Kevin Forbes, who with teammate and twin brother Gary was part of the victorious Buena group. “We built it in our garage at home, and our neighbors let us test it in their swimming pool. We could walk over.â€
The six NERDS plunged into the deep end to fulfill a detailed mission based on an actual German submarine that sank with its crew and its discovery off the coast of New Jersey. The true story was the subject of a Nova documentary called “Hitler’s Lost Sub.â€
Students assembled their remotely-operated vehicles and were asked to accomplish seven tasks:
• Retrieve two “armed†torpedoes without detonating them
• Retrieve any artifact that would identify any crew member
• Locate the sonic pinger used to mark the sub’s location and decipher its coded message
• Retrieve the sub’s identification plaque
• Measure the depth of the top of the blast opening that sank the sub
• Measure the temperature of the volcanic vent that the sub landed on when it sank
• Place a commemorative plaque on the deck next to the blast opening
The competition was held in the school’s Olympic-sized pool that contained a 30-foot “submarine†that had been built for the occasion.
And because the sub was supposedly lying at a depth of 914.4 meters, there would be, for all practical purposes, zero light.
So the competition was held after dark.
“I think we competed at about 11:30 Saturday night,†Kevin said.
Prior to their trip to Phoenix, the team was able to perform additional pre-testing of their robot (named “The Tacky Spongeâ€) at The Cove, where pool depth more closely approximated what they’d experience in Chandler.
The NERDS’ coach, Buena teacher Tom Heller, said he was only involved in a part of the testing process and that “those kids are incredibly resourceful.†On Friday night, they came to the conclusion that the low-energy LED light on their ‘bot wasn’t bright enough, so they went to a local hardware store in Phoenix, bought another light and encased it in epoxy.
“Water is a different medium,†Heller commented. “Things move differently. They had to waterproof their electronics.â€
With 207.3 points (teams are scored on the Mission, a Meet & Greet, Technical Report, Oral Presentation, Web site and a Team Intro Video), the NERDS outperformed even the first place university team — the ASU Robo Devils from Arizona State University in Tempe, who finished with 164.4 points.
“I was concerned about the college teams,†said Gary Forbes. “We’re used to competing with teams at our same age level.â€
His twin allowed that the university teams weren’t quite as good as he thought they would be.
Their older brother Steve, a mechanical engineering major at the University of Arizona, served as mentor for the Buena students’ first foray into underwater robotics and hopes to start a UA robotics team when he returns to school as a sophomore in the fall.
The event was the first of its kind and was organized by a consortium of groups united under the acronym APASE — for Arizona Promoters of Applied Science in Education. The Sierra Vista contingent agreed that the competition, especially for a first effort, was extremely well-run and impressive. The organizers believe it will be even bigger and better next year.
“We’re building a coalition of professors, corporations and industry leaders who want Arizona to be seen as pioneering a high-tech infrastructure,†said Faridodin Lajvardi — a co-host of the event and known as “Coach Fredi†of the successful Carl Hayden High School robotics team in Phoenix.
Carl Hayden High, who scored 233.65 points last weekend and in the past has beaten the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at robotics competitions, participated last weekend strictly as an exhibition team.
The low-key Forbes brothers believe that the Buena NERDS spent less money than any of the other teams involved.
“I think we spent about $400,†said Kevin. “I heard that Carl Hayden spent $17,000. We pay attention to cost-effectiveness.â€
Members of the winning National Underwater Robotics Challenge team from Buena are Daniel Bond, Gary Forbes, Kevin Forbes, Matthew Houston, Alex Topping and Sean Topping.
Both trophies await placement in Buena’s Academic Trophy case.
“I have to find someone to unlock it,†said Coach Heller.
includes a photo at
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2007/0 ... 171995.txt
By Cindy Skalsky
Herald/Review
Published on Tuesday, June 12, 2007
SIERRA VISTA — The Nifty Engineering Robotics Design Squad of Buena High School made a big splash in Chandler over the weekend when six of its members took both first place in the high school division and the Overall Event Winner trophies at the first Honeywell Hometown Solutions National Underwater Robotics Challenge.
Hosted by Chandler High School, the three-day event brought together three university, one junior college and five high school teams.
Gary Forbes holds “The Tacky Sponge,†an underwater robot built by himself and his fellow Buena High School students. The robot received top honors in last weekend’s statewide competition. (Photo courtesy of Faridodin Lajvardi)
Buena’s score topped them all.
“We only put the kit together about three weeks ago,†said Kevin Forbes, who with teammate and twin brother Gary was part of the victorious Buena group. “We built it in our garage at home, and our neighbors let us test it in their swimming pool. We could walk over.â€
The six NERDS plunged into the deep end to fulfill a detailed mission based on an actual German submarine that sank with its crew and its discovery off the coast of New Jersey. The true story was the subject of a Nova documentary called “Hitler’s Lost Sub.â€
Students assembled their remotely-operated vehicles and were asked to accomplish seven tasks:
• Retrieve two “armed†torpedoes without detonating them
• Retrieve any artifact that would identify any crew member
• Locate the sonic pinger used to mark the sub’s location and decipher its coded message
• Retrieve the sub’s identification plaque
• Measure the depth of the top of the blast opening that sank the sub
• Measure the temperature of the volcanic vent that the sub landed on when it sank
• Place a commemorative plaque on the deck next to the blast opening
The competition was held in the school’s Olympic-sized pool that contained a 30-foot “submarine†that had been built for the occasion.
And because the sub was supposedly lying at a depth of 914.4 meters, there would be, for all practical purposes, zero light.
So the competition was held after dark.
“I think we competed at about 11:30 Saturday night,†Kevin said.
Prior to their trip to Phoenix, the team was able to perform additional pre-testing of their robot (named “The Tacky Spongeâ€) at The Cove, where pool depth more closely approximated what they’d experience in Chandler.
The NERDS’ coach, Buena teacher Tom Heller, said he was only involved in a part of the testing process and that “those kids are incredibly resourceful.†On Friday night, they came to the conclusion that the low-energy LED light on their ‘bot wasn’t bright enough, so they went to a local hardware store in Phoenix, bought another light and encased it in epoxy.
“Water is a different medium,†Heller commented. “Things move differently. They had to waterproof their electronics.â€
With 207.3 points (teams are scored on the Mission, a Meet & Greet, Technical Report, Oral Presentation, Web site and a Team Intro Video), the NERDS outperformed even the first place university team — the ASU Robo Devils from Arizona State University in Tempe, who finished with 164.4 points.
“I was concerned about the college teams,†said Gary Forbes. “We’re used to competing with teams at our same age level.â€
His twin allowed that the university teams weren’t quite as good as he thought they would be.
Their older brother Steve, a mechanical engineering major at the University of Arizona, served as mentor for the Buena students’ first foray into underwater robotics and hopes to start a UA robotics team when he returns to school as a sophomore in the fall.
The event was the first of its kind and was organized by a consortium of groups united under the acronym APASE — for Arizona Promoters of Applied Science in Education. The Sierra Vista contingent agreed that the competition, especially for a first effort, was extremely well-run and impressive. The organizers believe it will be even bigger and better next year.
“We’re building a coalition of professors, corporations and industry leaders who want Arizona to be seen as pioneering a high-tech infrastructure,†said Faridodin Lajvardi — a co-host of the event and known as “Coach Fredi†of the successful Carl Hayden High School robotics team in Phoenix.
Carl Hayden High, who scored 233.65 points last weekend and in the past has beaten the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at robotics competitions, participated last weekend strictly as an exhibition team.
The low-key Forbes brothers believe that the Buena NERDS spent less money than any of the other teams involved.
“I think we spent about $400,†said Kevin. “I heard that Carl Hayden spent $17,000. We pay attention to cost-effectiveness.â€
Members of the winning National Underwater Robotics Challenge team from Buena are Daniel Bond, Gary Forbes, Kevin Forbes, Matthew Houston, Alex Topping and Sean Topping.
Both trophies await placement in Buena’s Academic Trophy case.
“I have to find someone to unlock it,†said Coach Heller.
includes a photo at
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2007/0 ... 171995.txt