Stuyvesantls Sequel:

Making the Robotl Part II

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march 2002 stuypulse.org

nnULTIMATELIFE SAVER: RESCUE ROBOTSMEET JACK! . MEET THE STUY ROBOTICS TEAM 694!

52>

I from the co-presidents &co-editors I

AFTER THE SUCCESS WE HAD

IN OUR ROOKIE YEAR WE

thought that nothing could slowus down in getting a jump on organiz-

ing and fundraising for our second year

in FIRST. We had such grand plans.Elliot and I were in Calculus together

when we heard the first plane hit theWorld Trade Center. We could see it

clearly from our classroom window.

Stuyvesant High School is one of eight

public schools that sat in the shadow ofthe World Trade Center. Robotics Team

694 used to hang out in their BordersBook Store when the robotics lab was

closed. They let us play chess on thefloor behind their sofas.

I helped set up triage that day beforewe had to evacuate when the towers fell

and the debris field hit our school. "Run

North, al,1d Good Luck," said a teacher.We were out for more than a month so

that Stuy could be used as the headquar-ters for the search and rescue effort. We

want to thank the sponsors who con-

tributed money to put our school and

our teams back together, and the manyschools around the country who sent

thousands of origami cranes and postersand wishes. We want to particularly

thank the 500 teachers who kept their

cool and who helped evacuate morethan 8,000 students without a serious

injury that day.Did you know that an entire team of

robots gathered at the WTC for twelvedays to aid the rescue efforts? NY City

saw first hand how robots can change

the world. Team 694 was a bit nervous

last year as a rookie. Today even ourfreshman-it was only their fifth day

of school on September II-havenerves of steel. We won't be nervous

this year because we're just grateful tobe here to compete in our second

FIRST Robotics competition.

Brendan MooreCo-President

Elliot Levy-BenchetonCo-President

02 POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002

WELCOME TO POPULAR

STUYENCE, OUR WAY OF

documenting exactly "what'snew and what's next" with Team 694 in

our second year of FIRST Robotics.A lot is new! We have tons of new

members, and more girls than ever!

Thankfully there are new uniforms-weswam in the old ones-with a new

female friendly twist. Liz and I promise

to actually wear them at the competition!We're thrilled to have all our old

mentors return, and we have wonderful

new ones like Daniele's Dad, Mel Haupt-

man and lan's Dad, Tom Ferguson andTEEN PEOPLE Editor Isabel Gonzalez.

Last year's team captivated the entireschool so much that Mr. Levin intro-

duced a Senior Double Period Tech Lab

for Advanced Robotics. FIRST is part ofthe curriculum now! We raised moneyto renovate the old Robotics Lab so we

have new equipment-and best of all-STORAGE! The Engineers might actual-

ly find all the parts they need this year,and they won't spend hours picking upafter themselves!

We kept in touch with "Wilma," invit-

ing her to a school meet at Stuy in June

and hosting Team 522 at Grand Centralin January to meet the Rescue Robotsfrom the World Trade Center. We also

became mentors with the LEGO League,

helping to introduce it to District 2schools in Manhattan. IS 89 which is

across the street from Stuy was to be

one of our LEGO League teams, but they

were displaced from their schoolbecause of September 11. We hope they

will take our rain check for help next

year. We'd like to invite IS 89 to watchus WIN at Columbia. In fact, we mightinvite all of Lower Manhattan to come

see us. We are a family now. Just likeTeam 694-

~LizAlspectorCo-Editor

CCo-Editor

FACULTY

PrincipalStanley TeitelAssistant PrincipalTechnologyJeffrey LevinResearchCoordinatorAnne de Sostoa ManwellRoboticsTeamAdvisor Rafael Col6n

uuo n "."...------------------

STUYVESANT ROBOTICS CLUB

Co-Presidents Elliot Levy-Bencheton, Brendan MooreVicePresident Gordon Franken

Treasurer Georgia Faust

Secretary Elton KwokMarkatlng Liz AlspectorPublicity Daniele Hauptmanstrategy David GoluskinOeslgnAndrew MoldovanEngineeringBen ZelnickProcurement Daniel NoratFieldConstruction Ethan Heller

ProgrammingTayeb AI Karim--_n n n '.".".-------------------

ENGINEERING TEAM

lIya Blay,Andrew Blum, Terry Chan, May Cheng,Beekey Cheung, David Coen, Alex Ellis, Ian Ferguson,Amanda Kwok,Justin Lee, Leo Li, Eddie Lei, AvivOvadya, Chun-Che Peng, David Portnoy, Joe Aicci,Jeanne Aoig-Irwin, Alzaber Rubayat, SamuelSubbarao, William Silversmith, Brad Stronger,Kerem Tangul, Matthew Welsh, Sergei Yani,TainweiXiong, Ji-Feng Zhu

n n__-

MARKETING TEAM

Helena Chan, Sam Dishy,Eugene Epshteyn, ElinaGalperin, Eddie Kalletta, Elyssa Lacson, Theresa

Langschultz, Nikki Marchan, Jenny Mathews, LauraPaliani, Valentina Popova, Vicki Siavina, DanielaSorokko, Allison Wright, Nelli Zaltsman, T~ia Zhang.......---------------................------------------................

MENTORS

Christina Albee, Abi Arbel, Rachel Bradley, James

Carpino ('B9), Carolyn Chauncey, Tom Ferguson,John Frankie ('54), Amy Galleazzi, Janis Gaudelli,Isabel Gonzalez, Daniel Greenstein, Fred Hansen,Mel Hauptman, Steve Hilton, Ray Harris ('01),Ed Jackson, Larry Kirshbaum, Ceil McCarthy. Elliott

Naishtat ('61), Evan J. Narcisse, CatherineNewstadt, Irving Ojalvo, Lauren Aenaud,

Christopher Seluga, Lang Whitaker, Andy Woo ('96)--------------............-_.------------------_..............----------

PARENTS

Roksana Karim, Benita Berkowitz, Vladimir Bley,

Connie Burke, Ruth Coen, Stan Coen, Keren

Eisenberg, Carol Franken, Tom Franken, ShelleyGrant, Jim Heller, Abby Laufer, Cornelia Levy-Bencheton, Ann Moore, Donovan Moore, Carmen

Norat, Mike Norat, Susan Scher, Esther Smith,

Larry Zelnickn ".."".." "."."..".

SPONSORS

The AOLTWFoundation

AVONProducts FoundationJohn F.Welch Foundation

Lucidity Awards and SignagePOPULAA SCIENCE

Stuyvesant Alumni AssociationTEEN PEOPLE....--------------.............--------------------...............-..---

Printed byMaster Printing, Inc.445 Industrial Road, Carlstadt, NJ 07072T - 201.B42.9100, F - 201.842.9393

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Whatts New4 New mentors, new members,

new name, new curriculum,new robot parts and, hopefully,new uniforms.

WHAT'S NEXT

Ee

WHAT'S NEW

Newsfronts7 The latest from the frontiers

of science. The StuyvesantRobotics Team hosts theWorld Trade Center RescueRobots at Grand Central; TheLEGOLeague debuts in NYCwith help from 694; Alaskanrobotics students winSiemens Westinghouse award.

Features10 Making the Robot: Part Dm

Behind the scenes with theStuyvesant Robotics Team.

Firsthand13 Is it new? We test it,

drive it, try it first. Brightkids soup up smart toys.

10Departments2 FROM THE

CO-PRESIDENTS &CO-EDITORS

5 LETTERS

14 FYI

15 LOOKINGBACK

WWW.STUYPULSE.ORG POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002 03

Sidewalk Speed:A Hot New RideThe SegwayTMHuman Transporter (HT), which untilrecently was referred to only as "IT," is a two-wheeled self-propelled scooter that travelsabout 12 mph. Dean Kamen, the inventor of theSegway HT,also founded the FIRST RoboticsCompetition and invented a wheelchair capableof climbing stairs. The Segway, developed at acost of $100 million, is a complex network ofhardware and software that senses change inthe center of gravity and adjusts to maintainbalance. It has no brake, throttle, or gearshiftand it works for a full day on five cents' worth ofenergy. The Segway HT should become availablefor consumer purchases by the end of 2002 foraround $3,000. Team 694 tracked down a demowith the Postmaster General whose letter

carriers are testing the Segway in Tampa, Florida.It's an unbelievable ride!

Welcome New Mentors!Mel Hauptman's first interest in roboticscame from watching last year's competition(daughter Daniele is on the marketingteam). As a civil engineer with the US Envi-ronmental Protection Agency, Mel workswith problems such as water supply. "I'm nota computer geek," he says, though he hasfound himself to be a bigger help than heexpected. Tom Ferguson is the father offreshman twins Ian and David. He has beenhooked on Team 694 since he toured

Stuyvesant last year. Tom, the head of theEngineering Department at Cox & Company,

was impressed with Stuy's Robotics Lab and Team 694's 2001FIRST experience. He sees his mentors hip as a chance to helpkids develop their ideas, but also keep them down to earth. Tom isdelighted that the veteran team members are accepting newideas and working with the lower classmen so well.

04: POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002

Goodbj~ Mr. Ng:Hello Mr. Col6nMeet Mr.Col6n, our new men-tor helping us in the FIRSTRobotics Competition thisyear. This is his second year atStuy where he teaches com-puter engineering, computernetworking and drafting.What is his favorite part ofthe competition? FINISHING!

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The Infrared SensorAnother cool robot part new to the FIRST Robot-ics Competition is the infrared sensor or opticalsensor. It emits a beam of infrared light at a pieceof reflective tape mounted on the goals. The tapeis a special material which has the unique ability toreflect light back to the sensor. When the sensorreceives the reflected light, certain robot actionslike the tracking of a goal or the shooting of a ballcan be stimulated.

In The Classroom: Sign Up for a Double LabThe FIRSTCompetition has inspired Stuyvesant High School to such an extentthat it has added a new robotics class this year - only six months after Stuy'sRookie Robotics Team became a finalist in the New York Regional Competitionat Columbia University. This class, created and taught by Jeffrey Levin,theAssistant Principal of Technology, encourages "great applications of academ-ics, math and science" through robotics. Theclass, open to both Junior and Senior students,spreads the message of FIRSTand increasesawareness and interest in the StuyvesantRobotics Team. Mr. Levin's success in transport-ing the spirit of FIRST Robotics into a public highschool classroom has inspired teachers fromnearby schools, such as McKee High School toconsider the possibility of adding FIRSTto theircurriculum.

PrizedPremiumsWhat could possiblybeat last year's yo-yo?Wait and see.

Skirtin.9. TheIssue: NewUniformswith Style!The Marketing teamlooked to Isabel Gonzalez,the Trendspotting Editorof TEENPEOPLE, to helpgive our jumpsuits a littlemore style.

The Newbies

New Parts:The ChiapauaThe unusual aspect of thisyear's new motor is its name:the Atwood Mobile or Chia-paua motor. This is the firstyear the Chiapaua is allowedin the FIRST Robotics Com-petition. Its high torque andwide range of RPM allow therobot to employ numerousoperational abilities. This12-volt DC motor can beadapted for a specificdesign and function of therobot and is priced between$50 and $200. Its highestefficiency level is at approxi-mately 60%-5,000 RPM and40 oz. inches of torque-making the motor a high-quality mechanism ideal forcapturing and launchingballs. The Chiapaua motorcan be used in collaborationwith several other motors,enabling the robot to oper-ate effectively.

There's been an increase of fresh faces on the Robotics Team,including a number of Freshmen. New to Marketing is TheresaLangschultz, 14. "I've had experience with robots before, but mar-keting has helped me understand the creative aspects of robotics,"she says. New additions to the Engineering Team are Ian Fergusonand Amanda Kwok,both 14. Ian says, "When I started at Stuy, Iwasnervous. But I feel comfortable on the Robotics Team. We act andfeel like a big family."As one of the only two girls on Engineering,Amanda feels welcomed. "It's fun to take stuff apart and jokearound. Now Mr. Colon has to say, 'Ladies and Gentlemen.'''

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That's AU Folksl

Well it's been fun, exasperating, hectic, educational, inspi-rational, (ok, you get the point) 6 weeks. Today, in our twelfthhour, we did as much as we could, and I can't seem to remem-ber what. We were able to practice for awhile, and during thattime we had numerous technical difficulties, including drain-

ing both batteries. Well, now we know what problems wemight face. On a positive note, the pit crew was able to changethe battery in one minute.

The crate is amazing! It is roomy, and the robot will be verycomfortable in there for the next month. We tried to smuggleJames in the crate as well.

We probably should meet once or twice a week till 6 or so.And use that time to work on the second robot, and duplicate

parts. And, oh yeah, clean up.-Gordon, Freshman

Mentor, FoDed AgaIDlA few minutes ago, I was crumpling a piece of aluminum

foil from some take-out food, and the aluminum foil became

to me a material, and I began thinking, how can I use this ona robot? Huh? I AM GOING CRAZY!!!!!! For the past sixweeks, I have done nothing but eat, drink and sleep overdesigns and sideswiping the rest of my life too and JUSTONEMORE PIECE OF ALUMINUM. I don't want to see anotherpiece of aluminum for a month.

But of course, it's not over yet. I want to congratulate youall on a job well done. In the nick of time, you delivered thegoods and the robot is on its way to competition. I am amazedby the way you worked together in the final hour. I AM FLAB-BERGASTED BY THE WAY YOU WORKED TOGETHER INTHE FINAL HOUR. I didn't know you had it in you. From the

quick debugging, to the repair tests, from the last minute addi-tions to your commitment to beating the clock, you have allplaced me in what for lack of a better name I must call Awe.Enjoy your vacation... Mr. Ng please let me know when Ishould come by to clean up.Your disoriented mentor,James

Who Done It?In case word hasn't spread, the box is here. It's in the wood

lab because it doesn't fit anywhere else. Somebody wanna tellme why the hasps are broken off? Also, somebody wanna tellme who were the ingenious folks who decided to nail the doorshut? Notification sometime soon about unpacking will beleaked eventually.-Mr. Ng

06 POPULARSTUYENCE MARCH 2002

Cool DigsDudelDear Stuyvesant,

Congratulations on second place inyour rookie competition, we were in thealliance with you, but we were the alt.Anyway, we were just wondering whereyou guys got those mechanic's suitthings, we really liked them and want toget them for next year. Congratulations,-Mike, Team 375: Staten Island Tech"Robotic Plague"

Mike, What a great day. Congrats toyou too. Our jumpsuits were donated byour sponsor, Time Warner Cable. Youcan find them online at dickies com, I

think. So we might have looked welldressed, but we didn't have to spend ourbudget on clothes, thank goodness.-Brendan, Sophmore

Ruled Out

General rule #J. - instead of arguingfor 4 hours about whether to do some-thing or not, just get it done.General rule #2 - Nothing tried, nothinglearned. You don't learn from inaction,

you learn from experience whether it befrom success or failure, you still learn.General rule #3 - All things beingequal the simplest explanation must betrue-Occams razor-this does not

apply to robotics.General rule #4 - Measure twice cutonce...Not cut twice measure once. :)General rule #5 - If you don't ask youdon't get. Read: ask questions.General rule #6 - Two heads are better

than one. Read: work together.General rule #7 - Nothing venturednothing gained (see #2) includes notspending all the clubs money or decidingon strategies too early on.Hope this helps. Elliot, Senior

Come RaID, Sleet or SNOWI

First off, good meeting today (right?Yeahh you know it was fun) and thoseof you who didn't come please try to getyour butts over to the robotics labtomorrow!! I know it's supposed to

snow, but you can all make snowmen orwhatever afterward, it's ok. The meetingis going to be Saturday from 10 to 3.We'll be starting work on Pop Stuy (thechairman's award submission), lookingthrough photos, eating cookies, and alldoing various jobs. I'm gonna be a littlelate...well probably very late since myorthodontist never really sticks with thetime schedule for his appointments...butI will definitely be there. See you tomor-row!

-Daniele, Sophomore

Memory LaneHey everybody, this is Jesse Newman

from last year's team. I wish everyonethe best of luck. I'm really impressed atthe level of organization this year, espe-cially considering you guys were inBrooklyn Tech for a while and Mr. Ngisn't at Stuy anymore.

For all of you Freshpeople and otherfolks new to the team, I must say thatthe Robotics team really was the bestthing that I ever did in High School.First of all, you get to work with yourhands and apply some of the informa-tion that you learn in classes to actualmaterials. If you take computer scienceor one of the shop classes this is espe-cially the case. Second of all, robotics isjust plain fun. Sure, the competitionsare really really great amazing fun (espe-cially FLORIDA) but just building therobot is a blast. Seeing a few abstractdrawings (man, those things wereabstract) turn into a real functionalrobot, and then see that robot performexcellently at a competition was anunforgettable thrill.

By the way, I'm attending RensselaerPolytechnic Institute so if anyone hasany questions about it or college in gen-eral, I'm here.-Jesse, Alum ('01)

Got An Idea...Nevermind

I have an idea for a way to pick upballs. However, I need a set of rollerbladewheels. If anyone has some extra, I surecould use them. If you have them, bringem in on Friday. Thanks.-Joe, Freshman

Just a reminder, we can't use rollerblade wheels on the robot. However we

could theoretically fabricate our ownsimilar wheels. Or see if Small Parts or

Skyway sells such small wheels.-Gordon, Sophmore

Huh?I forgot, but why do we need the

football mount?-William, Freshman

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RESCUE ROBOTS

ROBOTSCANCHANGETHEWORLDTeam 694 invitesrescuerobots torevisit New Yorkto show us how.

BENEATHTHERUBBLEAND

the smoking wreckage,into narrow sewagepipes and passageways,with sensors and cam-

eras built to detect survivors, andin constant contact with emer-

gency rescue workers above,about a dozen tough little robotssought out life on September 11,2001. Immune to fatigue andextremely durable, they chargedthrough debris. Sparing humansand canines from cave-ins and

flare ups, the robots discoveredseveral bodies and directed search

workers to areas of possibleexploration. These machines arepart of a new, emerging technolo-gy-robot search and rescue-andthey were deployed for the firsttime ever in New York City at theWorld Trade Center disaster site.

When Stuyvesant Robotics Team694 learned about these robots inthe days immediately following theWTC disaster, (three blocks fromour home base at Stuy) we wereinspired to arrange a visit by the on-

site ground coordinator, Lt. Col.

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REPORTED BY ELLIOT LEVY-BENCHETON

news fronts

John Blitch, an Army roboticsexpert and Director of CRASAR(Center for Robot-Assisted Searchand Rescue), and his principalteam leader, Dr. Robin Murphy ofthe University of South Florida.

Stuy 694 wanted to share our fas-cination for this unique real worldrobotics application with our localFIRST robotics community.

In early January, Lt. Col. Blitchand Dr. Murphy addressed the localFIRST Robotics community at anevent at Grand Central Station cele-

brating the Ground Zero's humanheroes. Team 694 invited a widespectrum of guests including thelocal FIRST Robotics Teams, men-tors, parents and students fromPolytechnic University, CooperUnion College of Engineering,

Columbia University and the NewYork City Board of Education tolearn about the important robotapplications. Among the FIRSTRobotics teams invited to share ourdiscovery were McKee, EvanderChilds, Taft, Canarsie, BrooklynTech, Thomas Jefferson and CurtisHigh Schools.

Student roboticists were amazedto see how small and functionalthese search and rescue robots are.

We learned how the "shape shifter"robot is the most useful at the site.

Dr. Murphy explained that the mostcritical period for locating survivorsafter a disaster is the first 48 hours.Robots are important during thattime because they can withstandheat and are highly maneuverable.Both Lt. Col.Blitch and Dr. Murphy

(continues)

Six members of the

Stuy Robotics Teamare featured in theLIFE best seller

about September 11.Their photo is partof photographer JoeMcNally's GroundZero Portrait Projectwhich opened atGrand Central and is

now touring thecountry. This wasthe perfect backdropto invite the robots

who helped therescue workers atthe WTC site demo

the emergingtechnology called"robot-assistedsearch and rescue"for New York FIRSTteams.

POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002 07

praised the real heroes, human firefightersand workers, and explained that robots playacomplementary role on a rescue team. Blitchand Murphy provided details of their experi-ence and expressed appreciation for theencouraging signs, flags and tributes theysaw along the West Side Highway as theyreturned to the staging area between shifts.Those were the symbols that helped keepthem going and to stay focused on the work.

Stuyvesant is proud to have introducedour FIRST colleagues to this disaster rescuefield. Many technologies that we use in theFIRST competition are analogous to thosein search and rescue.

We believe that our work in robotics

extends well beyond a game or a competi-tion to real work issues such as safety andcontributing to solving disaster problemslike 9/11.

SAVINGLIVESWITHROBOTICSTwins Hanna and Heather

Craig from Anchorage, Alas-ka are among the nationalwinners in the 2001 Siemens-Westinghouse Science andTechnology Competition for their original researchproject, "The Ice-Crawler: The Rescue Robot forSnow, Ice and Glaciers." The Craig sisters' goal wasto build a robot helpful to humanity. With research,the girls discovered that no pre-existing robot isspecifically designed to rescue humans trappedunder ice. This is especially important becausehuman rescuers are often at risk of falling into theice themselves. The Ice-Crawler consists of two sili-con-reinforced rubber tracks connected end-to-endand uses three motors, two for the drive system andone for steering. The team winners of the WesternRegional spent two years working on and research-ing their project. It demonstrates the potential ofrescue robots and their future role in society.

08 POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002

MENTORING

FIRST LEGO LEAGUEANOTHER AMAZING FIRSTEXPERIENCEBy Gordon Franken

I.

ANY FIRST EVENT MIXES EQUAL

parts tension, excitement,competition and sports-manship. The FIRST LEGO

League competition is certainly noexception.

LEGO League is FIRST's juniorrobotics competition for studentsages seven to fourteen. The eight-week competition season runsannually from mid-October throughregional events in December. In col-laboration between FIRST and

LEGO, the competition utilizes theLEGOMINDSTORMSTMrobotics kitand software. Junior high schoolteams of up to 10 students put anenormous effort into designing,building, and programming a robotthat will compete in the Challenge.

Challenge 2001, Arctic Impact,involved a 4 x 8 foot playing field,representing an arctic ice field.Points were awarded when various

objectives were completed. ArcticImpact was based on the actual fieldstudy of an Arctic Explorer Team.

We were there at the NYC

Regional FIRST LEGOLeague Com-petition on the cold morning of

Saturday, December15th to witness thesuccess (or failure)of Team 18. Themembers of the

Stuy Robotics Clubhad a vested inter-est in Team 18'sresults, because wehad devoted timeand effort in assist-

ing them in theirrookie year.

It started in the

Spring of 2001. Wehad several meet-

ings at the NYC Dis-trict 2 Office presenting to teacherswho were interested in instituting arobotics curriculum in their schools.

We gave the teachers advice on howto run the club or class, and weexplained how we would help men-tor them and their students.

When the school year began, wewere looking across the street, inthe direction of IS 89 since theirPrincipal Ellen Foote was extreme-ly interested in starting an after-school robotics club. Unfortunate-

ly, the events of September 11thleft those plans in upheaval. IS 89was relocated to Greenwich Vil-

lage, and we were temporarily sentto Brooklyn Tech.

We looked for others in District 2

who could use our help: IS 131,JHS 167, MS 104 and School of theFuture were all interested in inte-

grating LEGO Robotics into theirschool curriculum or starting afterschool clubs. School of the Futurehad built their own robot and made

it to the first NYC Regional. Justlike the varsity robotics competi-tion, they were still making modifi-cations in the pit; we were in the

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stands cheering them on for everyround. Uke most rookies, they did-n't win, but they had lots of fun andvowed to be back next year.

Our neighbor IS 89 was finallyallowed back in to their school and

had their first meeting on Tuesday,February 5th just less than fivemonths after the events of Septem-ber 11th. I felt it was appropriatethat the Stuy Robotics Club bethere, not only as mentors, but alsoas fellow students. We finally got todeliver our plan for mentoring theirclub and leading them into the 2002LEGOLeague Competition.

During the six months ofinvolvement with LEGO MIND-

STORMS and FIRST LEGO League,I came to understand what an

impact FIRST has made in nationaland regional robotics interest.What started out as an inventive

pastime has suddenly become afull-fledged competition, extractingcreativity from the minds of JuniorHigh School students. I was proudto be part or this experience. Men-toring is not just about sharingyour expertise, but about benefit-ing a community. It is also mygreatest hope that this communitywill spawn the next generation ofengineers, and that they will followmy example and continue tospread interest in robotics.

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Team694mentors posewith the "MInd

Lightning"LEGO Leagueteam from the

School of the

Future.

WHEN IT ABSOLUTELY,POSITIVELY HAS TO GETTHERE OVERNIGHT

Terry Knight, the CEO ofthe Canadian company

f~ INUKTUN in British

,~~ Columbia who manufac-tured the rescue robots

used at Ground Zero told

us this story at our GrandCentral Exhibition. He

faced the impossible task

of getting his robots tothe World Trade Center to search for survivors.

QUGSTION: How do you ship ANYTHING from

Nanaimo, BC, Canada (the Robotics Capital ofNorth America) to the site of the World Trade Cen-

ter disaster-probably the most security sensitive

zone in the Western World days after September11? (Remember our airports were closed.)

ANSWER: You address it as instructed by Robin

Murphy, cover it in stickers indicating that it is:

Search & Rescue Robotic Equipment for the New

York World Trade Center. Then you call Fed-Ex.

Fed-Ex picked up the shipment in Nanaimo, acrossan international border and as far away as you can

get from New York and still be in North America,

and confirmed delivery to the Murphy/Blitch teamin New York in 23 hours!

How did they do that? We understand that each

time the robots touched down, a Fed-Ex agent

would physically find them, move them to the frontof the line, ensure that they were loaded for the

next leg of the trip, and then call Canada with an

update.That's "six sigma" service, and it's great to have

Fed-Ex as a FIRST sponsor.

ROOKIES LOVECOOKIES

We still remember what it was

like to be a rookie team so we

went to the downlink at Brooklyn

Polytechnic University with a gift for Rookie Team

335, Science Skills Center High School. (But wait aminute, how can their number be lower than our

number?) Anyway, no rookie team ever budgets

enough for food, because no rookie team ever

understands how many hours they are about to

burn building their first competitive FIRST robot.

So Team 335, we hope you enjoy that case of

Famous Amos from your veteran friends, Team 694

from Stuyvesant High School.

POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002 09

BEHIND THE SCENESOF STUY~S ROBOTICS

TEAt'1 6'31f

B"'" E:REN[::'AN t-1CIOFi:E

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E"":=.j It wasship-=::'j.L ping dayand it was noth-ing short of amiracle thatRobot 694 wasready to load intoits crate for itsdebut at the NYRegionals atColumbia. "No,James, you can'tride with it."

j.::!..:= We had no idea what was ahead, but we were confi-=:..=d:'. dent; we had great traction. We could limbo. Andalthough we hadn't had time to practice, we knew we couldbalance two goals on the bridge.

=",,::..,. We looked good. Our overalls (courtesy of Time=::'i':::: Warner Cable) and our yo-yos stood out. Our mar-keting team did a first rate job on STUYPEOPLE,and theentire school knew about the Columbia Regionals. Wewere so cool even the Stuy Cheerleaders showed up.

1"::1..; Ugh! We forgot we were.: ,. rookies until we made a lotof rookie mistakes. In one heat, wehad a low battery. In another, some-one left the aerial for the radiotransmitter back stage. A loose

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.-:. We were saved when "Wilma" from McKee High1::.1E:= School picked us in the first draft to join Alliance3 in the semifinals. Wewere so thankful that we vowed tonever forget 522, the Robo Wizards from Staten Island.

f':: ...:: We didn't let=::J i them down. We

performed flawlesslyfor the semifinals, posi-tioning the goal, andlimboing fast into theend zone. Wilma bal-anced one goal quickly,and we made the finals!

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POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002 11

I

171° But all seemed lost when an opposing team bal-- 1.-1 anced two goals and we had to beat 328 points towin. Wilma,with only one goal gripper asked us to take thelead and try.

1 r1 When the. ::.opposingalliance came back

in their last attemptto beat us by onesmall ball-it was

okay. A Silver Medalfor a rookie teamwas a blast and

a great dayfor Stuyvesant!

j 1We knew

. we'dbeback next yearto try for thatFirst PlaceBanner. And wewere on ourway to Orlandowith our confi-dence back...

1 .-1 The Nationals at EPCOTwere- .::..huge! It was a sea of 15,000 kidsand 327 teams. We had an outstandingopening round, setting the Galileo Leaguehigh score! We Finished at a respectable43rd out of 83.

~7-jq WE DID IT!- ... We tied thescore and moved

into first place! Itwas the sweetestmoment; a memoryto be permanentlyfiled. It felt great topay Wilma back too.

1 7 FIRST_I put usthrough fourmonths of hardwork. We lovedalmost everyminute of it, butthe team wasworn out. We'llbe back next year,and we'll beveterans.

EDITED BY WilliAM G. PHilLIPS

firsthaARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

THEGREATBUGOFFNew York's brighteststudents test today'ssmartest toy.They'resemi-intelligent,loud, andhellbent on a path of destruction.Not teenagers, but rather a newcreation designed for them: Bio-Integrated Organisms, or Bio Bugsfor short. The new toy from Hasbrorepresents a breakthrough of sorts-it's only $4°, yet it's hardwiredwith artificial intelligence createdat Sandia National Laboratory.The result: These toys can worktogether to complete tasks.

The toy's inventor, Marc Tilden,encourageskids tocrackthemopento make improvements. So we gaveeight bugs to the Robotics Club atNew York City's prestigious Stuy-vesant High School, and asked thestudents to do their best Dr.Frank-

enstein. Here's what they found, inthe words of two club members.

,St1.iyfewtf~'read)their.!i~p~~~P;toys fora'duelto tile death.

bugs can work together to com-plete a given task.

The task is often combat, forit's the one game the bugs aredesigned to play. Yet instead ofletting them fight on their own,you can control their motion witha remote. This seemed to negatethe coolness of the bugs' artificialintelligence, especially consider-ing they're better brawlers whenyou control them yourself.

However, when left to battle ontheir own, the toys show surpris-ingly intelligent behavior. Bugsfrom the same "species" (markedby color) cooperate to overtakeone from a different species. So,for example, one bug attacks fromthe front, another from the back.The slow, jerky motion belies Has-bro's promise of a "fierce roboticbattle." We added two legs to oneof the four-legged creatures, im-proving traction and speed. But

the action was still too slow-

think sloths in a fistfight.In short, we were impressed

with the internal technology, butfrustrated with the execution. We

grew bored after only a few weeks-the fate of most toys, we under-stand, but disappointing consider-ing the bug's potential. We hadmuch higher hopes.-ELLIOTLEVY-BENCHETON AND BRENDAN MOORE

z~<uaizzo

Artificial intelligence is nosmall feat, so we were excited to

start testing. We quickly foundthe durable toys thatare very adept at behav-

ioral-based learning-thatis, they react to their sur-

roundings. Put a bug in acertain layout, and it immedi-

ately figures out how to man-, euver around without bumpivg

into anything. The bugs aisocommunicate via infrared

signals, so two or more

A BUG'SNEWLIFEDissatisfiedwith its talents

as a quadruped,members of

New York City's

StuyvesantHigh School Robotics Club cross-

bred this Bio Bug with a set of

Lego Mindstorms, producing afierce-looking six-legged robot.

,Cup

WHATISROBOCUP?Robocup is another new frontierin science, technology, and engi-neering discovered recently bythe Stuy Robotics Club. It's acompetition similar to FIRSTRobotics, but whose focus is oncreating robotics soccer gamesto entertain and educate thepublic. According to ProfessorManuela Veloso of CarnegieMellon's Robotics Institute. Thelong-term goal of RoboCup isto develop a team of fullyautonomous robots that can beatthe human world soccer champi-ons by 2°5°. RoboCup, an inter-national competition, in whichover 35 countries and 3,000researchers participate, will takeplace in Fukuoka, Japan in 2002.

J 11.---

ASK POPULAR STUYENCE

What would be the best theme songfor a Robot named JACK?

a. "Hit the Road Jack" (RayCharles)

b. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (RollingStones)

c. "Black Jack Blues" [FleetwoodMac)

d. "Beau Koo Jack" [LouisArmstrong)

e. "Jack Rabbit" [EltonJohn)

,--:;;:,,;;--

most famous C.E.D.fromthe Fortune 5°° is anengineer!)

THANKS TO OUR TEACHERSAs the Stuy Robotics Team of 2002, wenot only have a responsibility to prepare

for competition, but to be leaders in our

community. After the events of 9ill, wefelt the need to thank the staffs of schools

in Lower Manhattan, including IS 89which was to have been our LEGO League

Team. On November 16, Team 694 report-ed to the Time Life Building in midtown

Manhattan to put together baskets for 550teachers and staff. We filled the bags with

dozens of goodies, ranging from Sony Dis-cmans to Calvin Klein cosmetics. It was a

fulfilling experience for all involved,

including the teachers who were com-

pletely surprised with the kind gesture on

behalf of our sponsor AOL Time Warnerand the Robotics Team. (And we won't tell

who packed Mr. Levin's bag.)

14 POPULAR STUYENGE MARCH 2002

r- L

Why DID you name yourrobot "JACK"?

Jack is certainly not themost intimidating namefor a robot, but behind itlies a powerful man witha soft spot. Jack Welch,retired General ElectricC.E.D.,made a substantialdonation to Stuyvesant tosupport our team, to ren-ovate the robotics lab andto upgrade our chemistrylabs. As thanks, Team 694has named 2002'S entryafter him. Welch lovesthe idea of a mechanical

namesake, and promisesto christen the robot,according to his publish-er, Larry Kirschbaum. "Totruly be like Jack, therobot must be passionate,competitive, innovative,and well built," says Larry."Stuyvesant is developinggreat people who willmake a great product, andMr. Welch certainly wish-es them well at Colum-bia." By the way, in hisbook you'll read that Mr.Welch thinks chemicalengineering is a wonder-ful career choice. (Yes,the--- ---

H Team 694 brought LMNTlast yearto look cool, what celebrity are theybringing this year to the ColumbiaRegional for good luck?

Godfrey, the new spokesman for7-Up to come cheer for "Jack" andTeam 694. Godfrey PROMISES tokeep his clothes on no matter howexcitingit gets.We only came in second in last year's

competition with LMNTwatching.[Their first hit single "Juliet" is verygood, by the way.) So this year wethought we'd bring a little celebritygood luck to our stands by asking

WWW.STUYPULSE.ORG

lookin back

FROM FIRST TEAM 694'S ROOKIE YEAR

College Freshman Ray Harrisis back as a mentor!

Senior Stuart Deutsch

went to SUNY Binghamton.

Mr. Ng left Manhattan and is

teaching on Long Island.

Last year's President JeremySchwartz is a FIRST mentor and

went to MIT. (He is taking a classwith Woodie Flowers!)

Jesse Newman, now a Freshman

at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

says joining team 694 was the best

thing he ever did. (See pg 16)

Junior Cheerleader Jenny

d'4atthews came just to watch lastyear and signed up! She'll be wearing

a Team 694 uniform this year.

WWW.STUYPULSE.ORG POPULAR STUYENCE MARCH 2002 15