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Penn State York to Host Robotics Competition Jan. 21

This robot, built by a Phoenixville Area High School team named Gear, worked hard to empty as many batons as possible from the dispenser during the “Get Over It!” robotics competition last year.

Penn State York will host the FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) South Central PA Regional Qualifier, a robotics competition, Saturday, Jan. 21 from 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in the Joe and Rosie Ruhl Student Community Center at the campus. This is the second time the campus has hosted this competition. The competition is open to the public to watch and it is free.

Participants will have the opportunity to see Penn State York’s new engineering facility, the Ralph G. and Madeline B. Swenson Engineering Center, which opened in August.

Twenty-four teams with up to ten members each from as far away as New York and as near as York Suburban High School and SciTech High School in Harrisburg are registered for the event. The “Bowled Over!” competition features a task-oriented robotics event where teams are asked to perform a variety of maneuvers with their robots.

The event in York is one of four qualifiers in Pennsylvania leading to the FTC PA State Robotics Championship at Penn College of Technology in Williamsport, Pa. Feb. 25. Teams that qualify from states will then proceed into the national championship in St. Louis, Mo., April 26-28. The acronym FIRST means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology and the organization was founded in1989 by Dean Kamen, an accomplished inventor, who wanted to inspire young people to appreciate science and technology.

According to Thomas Zawislak, FIRST FTC affiliate partner, team members are part of an alliance trying to perform tasks on the field with their robots. The event emphasizes gracious professionalism with winning or losing not the important things. Winning is nice but the design process is the important thing. Teams help each other and members develop friendships and camaraderie throughout the competition.

Penn State York students, faculty, and staff will work as volunteers during the competition filling a variety of roles from judges to field tech advisors, scorekeepers, software inspectors, and more. Throughout the competition teams are judged on their sportsmanship, performance of their robots, completion of tasks, following the rules, and a variety of other criteria. Students in grades 7-12 take part in the competition.

Marshall F. Coyle, associate professor of engineering at Penn State York, is the volunteer coordinator for the event, and has worked to fill the many positions necessary to make the competition possible.

“I am really excited about the FTC event! We had an outstanding event last year and our campus is a great place to have one of the qualifiers. Penn State York students, faculty, and staff have really stepped-up to help,” said Coyle.

Teams registered for the Penn State York FTC including their team name school or organization, and city and state are: Ozone, Oxford Robotics Club, Oxford, Pa.; Steel Hornet, Emmaus High School, Emmaus, Pa.; RoboWorks, Phoenixville Area Schools Phoenixville, Pa.; Craftsmen, Boy Scout Troop 793, Ellicott City, Md.; SciBots, SciTech High School, Harrisburg, Pa.; SciBots II, SciTech High School, Harrisburg, Pa.; Minds in Gear, Minds in Gear Robotics, Phoenixville, Pa;. MASH, Friends of 401, West Vincent Township, Pa.; Dynamic Robotics, Chester County Homeschool Robotics Club, St. Peters, Pa.; Ozone 2 Oxford Robotics Club, Oxford, Pa.; Blitzerbots, Blitzerbots, Elizabethtown, Pa.; Nano Gurus Nano Gurus, Morris Plains, N.Y.; Decepticons, Centers for Arts and Technology Pickering, Phoenixville, Pa.; YSATM/Trojan Horse, York Suburban High School, York, Pa.; Smokin’ Motors, Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Pa.; Robo Warriers, Mifflin County High School and JC Penny, Lewistown, Pa.; Minnie MASH, Friends of 401,West Vincent Township, Pa.; LANLords, Lancaster FTC, Millersville, Pa.; Imagine It, Imagine It Robotics, Palmyra, Pa.; SDP, Central High School, Philadelphia, Pa.; PRO, Corning Incorporated, Corning, N.Y.; The Game, Pope John Robotics, Sparta, N.J.; Fatal Error, Pope John Robotics, Sparta, N.J.; and Breaking Chains, Pope John Robotics, Sparta, N.J.

For more information on FIRST, visit their Web site at http://www.usfirst.org/.

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