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As robotic fever, exemplified by the Transformers explosion, overtakes Hollywood, a student’s vision of robots has rolled into school.
Sophomore Ofri Harlev was inspired to form the Robotics Club after San Francisco State University student Kevin Miller visited a computer programming class and did a presentation on robotics clubs. “The student had actually come to Lowell hoping to mentor a robotics club,” physics teacher and club sponsor Bryan Cooley said of Miller, who still attends meetings regularly. “He thought Lowell would have one, and he encouraged us to have one.”
Harlev combined his love for robotics and desire to create a place for like-minded individuals when creating the club. “Lowell has a unique environment; it contains a lot of bright-minded students that lack a chance to express themselves aside from tests and quizzes,” Harlev said. “Knowing this, I seized the opportunity to start Lowell’s robotics team, to provide our community with a chance to demonstrate their intelligence and have a chance to gain real-world work experiences. I love robotics, but I also want to inspire others around to be just as passionate as I am.”
“Lowell ... contains a lot of bright-minded students that lack a chance to express themselves aside from tests and quizzes.”
OFRI HARLEV, sophomore
The new club has already begun preparations for their first regional robotics competition, the 2012 Rebound Rumble, which will be held from March 15 to 17 at University of California, Davis by the non-profit organization FIRST Robotics, according to Cooley. The team hopes to inspire others to use science and technology to create new inventions. “The goal of the Lowell Robotic Team is to inspire youth though success, giving them the confidence to face challenges in the bigger world,” club member senior Walter Pan said.
The team is hoping to win the Rookie All-Star award, which will allow them to move on to championships in St. Louis in April. “The Rookie All-Star award is given to a rookie team that best represents the FIRST spirit,” Pan said. “Not only do we need a functioning robot, but the award also stresses the community, like how our team is helping and making a difference in our community, and inspiring youth around the Bay Area.”
Although the team had a late start in the competition, members remain confident in their chances. “Even most rookie teams have known about this competition for a year,” Cooley said. “We only found out about it six weeks before building season started.” According to Cooley, there are only three rookie teams competing at regionals. “Thanks to hard work by the students and their parents, we’re probably in a better place than some other teams,” he said.
“The goal of the Lowell Robotics Team is to inspire youth through success, giving them confidence to face challenges in the bigger world.”
WALTER PAN, senior
The robot is designed to play Rebound Rumble, a basketball game. The object of the game is to both score points by shooting hoops and to balance on a bridge in alliances of three teams. The Robotics club plans to build a robot that can function in this team mentality. “You want to be attractive to the top robots,” Cooley said. “We expect the top robots to be effective scorers. If we build one that can pass balls to other robots, it means more effective scoring.” The club is off to a promising start. “We have a design,” Cooley said. “We’re building pieces of it to see proof of concept, to see if our design works.”
The money will go to registering and preparing for regionals. “Our estimated budget is $22,500,” Harlev said. “We are building an industry grade robot. The kit of parts included in registration is worth about $10,000.” The remaining portion of the budget will be used for traveling costs.
However, the cost to build a robot can go up to $3,000, according to Pan. Hence, the club has also looked to other ways, both small and large to raise funds. “We’re trying to approach different companies (for grants),” junior member Reed Haubenstock said.
The club has already received generous grants of $6,500 each from a department store and the Alumni Association. FIRST Robotics helped secure the $6,500 grant from JCPenney. The group has received additional grants of $5,000 from Out of the Cloud Research, $2,500 from Google, and $2,000 from the Brin Wojcicki Foundation. The club has also been promised a donation of $5,000 from the parent of a club member. Besides the grants, the club has been selling environmentally-friendly light bulbs since November to fundraise for their first robotics competition. The light bulbs were provided by FIRST Robotics. “We had to purchase the light bulbs through a discounted price,” Haubenstock said. “Then we sell them to make a profit.” So far, the club has made $400 from selling light bulbs at $15 for a 40 watt or $26 for a 60 watt. “Instead of buying a light bulb, some people donate the money instead,” Haubenstock added.
The team has been meeting after school every day for building season, a six-week period beginning on Jan. 7. Construction of the robot must take place only during the building season. After the season is over, the robot must be sealed until the competition.
A version of this article first appeared in the Jan. 27, 2011 print edition of The Lowell. |
