Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering’s two sponsored high school robotics teams -- the Quadrangles and I.C.E. Robotics -- thrived at the recent For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) World Championships in Houston, Texas.
I.C.E. Robotics finished seventh at the prestigious, week-long international event, which drew more than 20,000 pre-college science, technology, engineering and math-minded students from around the world.
The Quadrangles won the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors for the Hopper Division. The award showcases industrial design principles and a balancing of form, function and aesthetics.
The Quadrangles advanced to the world championships by finishing second at the Indiana state championships. For the season, they ranked seventh out of 63 district teams, and were one of 12 teams from Indiana at the world championships.
I.C.E. Robotics advanced to Houston by winning the Inspiring Award during the state competition.
The teams competed in First Tech Challenge and First Robotics Competition, which are two programs within FIRST Robotics.
It was the first time the teams had qualified for the world championships.
Mary Loveless, Luddy faculty lecturer, was the teams’ Intelligent Systems Engineering department liaison.
“It was exciting to see two teams make it,” Loveless said. “Bloomington was well represented. They have a great mentor network.”
The students, most from Bloomington High School South, designed and built the robots. Much of their work was done at Luddy’s Multidisciplinary Engineering and Sciences Hall.
“ISE has provided space for their meetings for some time,” Loveless said. “They need the space to have meaningful practices.”
The state and world competitions are significant recruiting priorities for Luddy. Natalie Edwards, Luddy director of undergraduate recruiting, attended both events. Luddy gives scholarships to FIRST participants with the understanding they will become mentors and ambassadors for local FIRST teams.
“We talk to students about Luddy programs and our scholarship program,” Edwards said.
As far as the competition, new games are devised each year. Teams get six weeks to create a new robot design and develop game strategy. Every round, robots are randomly assigned to three-team groups called “alliances.”
Robots must compete and cooperate with the other robots. This year, robots had to pick up orange rings and place them in goals around a basketball court. That included using a pseudo drone.
“It was very challenging,” Loveless said.
Robots are often damaged during the competitions. Teams have a separate area to test, repair and maintain their robots. Team members have different tasks such as wiring, electrical, design, fabrication and programming. There also are business and marketing responsibilities.
The teams are part of RoboBoosters Inc, a not-for-profit charity created to provide a solid financial foundation for youth robotics teams in Monroe County and the surrounding area.
FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
Luddy’s ISE department, along with FTC Team 18505 “Something to do with Waffles,” will host the Indiana University Robotics Invitational on June 29. There is no registration fee for this double-elimination FTC Off-Season Event. Teams can participate in a variety of individual robot competitions, including drone accuracy, drone maximum distance, blindfolded driving, mosaic recreation and a slalom course. For more information, contact wafflesftc18505@gmail.com