Yale cosponsoring city school's entry in robotics competition
A team of students from Hill Regional ,Career High School and Common Ground Charter School are representing the Elm City in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition being held April 4-6 at the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The students' entry is sponsored by the University's Office of New Haven and State Affairs, which enlisted the help of Yale Engineering, and by the United Illuminating Company (UI), which contributed funds for materials and equipment as well as two of its engineers to the design and assembly of the robot, according to Claudia Merson, coordinator of Yale's public schools partnership.
The FIRST Robotics Competition was founded by Dean Kamen of DEKA Research. Kamen, who recently introduced the Segway TM Human Transporter (HT), created FIRST to instill an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools and their communities. Currently in its 11th year, the FIRST Robotics Competition anticipates its largest season ever this year with more than 650 teams representing nearly every state in the United States.
"The FIRST Robotics Competition is not just about the design and building of sophisticated robots. These students also develop maturity, professionalism, teamwork and mentoring skills that enrich their lives," says Kamen. "Many of our students develop an affinity for their science and math courses, go on to study engineering, technology or science in college and also pursue employment opportunities with sponsoring companies."
Partnering with volunteer engineers from UI and machinists from Yale, the students work as a team, building their own robot, programming its actions and operating it during the competition. The team includes: Alex Avila, Robert Davis, Raynick Torres, Patrick Harewood, Joshua Dill, Brenden Morgan, Nick Olsen, Jose Ramos, Carlos Mercado, Will Rogers, Jacqueline Vaughan, Adrianne Smith, Migel Solar, Juan Anguita, Andrea Brooks and Charlise Gonzalez from Hill Regional Career High School; Shane Browing, Heather Eng and Timothy Toliver from Common Ground High School; teachers Angel Tangney, Teresa Matthews, Laura Roblee and Charline Cupole; UI engineers Jim Crowe, John Buffa and Bill Scarpa; and Yale machinists Matt Sanchez, Tony Massino and David Johnson.
This year's game, titled "Zone Zeal," requires students to design their robots to race around a playing field gathering balls, place balls into goals and place the goals in their scoring zone -- all in less than two minutes.
The 2002 FIRST Robotics Competition season includes 17 regional competitions held in the United States and Canada in March and April, and a championship event held April 25-27 at Walt Disney World's Epcot in Orlando, Florida.
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