20 students from Marysville, 1 robot

Published 11:20 pm Monday, February 11, 2008

MARYSVILLE — Scott Evensen was thrilled when his physics teacher asked her students if they wanted to build a robot that would compete in a regional — and perhaps national — competition.

The project is consuming countless after-school hours and chunks of weekends for Evensen and many of his classmates at Marysville Arts &Technology High School.

“This is just a cool thing to do,” said Evensen, 17, a junior. “It pulls me off the computer and, as my dad points out, keeps me off the video games.”

Marysville Arts &Technology is entering the FIRST Robotics Competition for the first time. This is the 17th year for the contest that is sponsored by corporations, foundations and government agencies, including NASA. The field will involve 1,500 teams from around the world and every state in the United States.

Each school is given a six-week deadline to design, engineer, build and fine-tune a remote-controlled device for competition.

The robots are built from a common kit of parts that include motors, batteries, a control system and a mix of automation components. It can’t cost more than $3,500 and no one part can cost more than $400.

Hundreds of hours of work by 20 Arts &Technology students along with teachers from their school and engineers from the community are being invested into a few minutes of competition.

Each robot will race around an oval track, knocking down inflated 40-inch diameter balls and moving them around the track, passing them either over or under a 6-foot, 6-inch overpass with extra points for ­placing them back on the overpass. Each match lasts 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

Marysville Arts &Technology students call their robotics team the “Pengbots,” which combines their school penguin mascot with a robot. They are enjoying the idea of being new kids on the block.

On their Pengbots Web site, they describe themselves this way: “Team 2660 is a ragtag group of small-town misfit loose cannon underdogs on the edge. They’re a rookie team in a new school working for a better tomorrow with nothing to lose and everything to prove. Can they overcome their differences and build a robot that can make it all the way to the top? Only time will tell.”

Monikka Mann, an engineer with B/E Engineering in Marysville, has helped students from two other schools build robots for the FIRST Robotics Competition in the past. She found immediate interest in the fall when she approached Arts &Technology.

Mann hopes people realize how hard the students work to compete and why the investment is worth the time and effort for the future.

“These are the kids that may design a more fuel-efficient vehicle to solve global warming, they may design improved prostheses for the elderly or for our combat wounded or they may be a part of designing the next generation spacecraft to help us travel outside of our galaxy,” she said. “All they need is a little encouragement and someone to help steer their energy and optimism the right way.”

As an engineer, the competition hones what she calls “hard skills,” such as computer programming, wiring, pneumatics, mechanical engineering and computer-aided drafting, and “soft skills,” such as teamwork, project management, fundraising, Web design, marketing and public speaking.

“I think FIRST teaches skills that are valuable to anyone, regardless of their chosen vocation,” she said.

The Pengbots team has filled a classroom at Totem Middle School, where some Arts &Technology students attend manufacturing classes. On whiteboards are a series of long, complex mathematical calculations that were used to build the robot. Parts are being built each day and designs have been revised along the way.

Michael Fitzpatrick, an Arts &Technology manufacturing teacher, likes to see his classroom used to build something so unique.

“NASA knows that the next rover that runs over a planet could be being designed in one of these kids’ heads right now,” he said.

The robot will include a little bit of German engineering. Stephan Speidel, 16, a junior at Marysville Arts &Technology, is a German exchange student who was chosen as a team leader on the project.

The other day, he was compiling a long list of work yet to do and redo. The checklist included “solenoid valve,” “gearbox adjustment,” “pulley adjustment,” “(software) programming” and “quick disconnect plug for battery.”

Later, there will be an exhaustive inspection list that must be met.

Speidel can only smile when he thinks of how much work is still ahead.

“A lot of people are really dedicated,” Speidel said. “We have a fun time every time we are here, even if it’s stressful.”

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com.

Help the effort

Marysville Arts &Technology High School’s robotics team is looking for sponsors and donations as it prepares for regional competition in March. To learn more about how to contribute, call the school at 360-653-0664 or visit the team’s Web site at www.pengbots.org.