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School Zone » Newest Class of D’Penguineers Puts Its Game Face On

Newest Class of D’Penguineers Puts Its Game Face On

Alexis Chasney, right, and Jenna Becker test out the motion sensor on the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy’s robot. The newly built device detects a red and green target. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk photo)

By Mike Traphagen, Noozhawk Contributor | | Published on 01.17.2010

Thirty-two Dos Pueblos High seniors received the instructions they’ve waited for since entering the school as freshmen. They’ve watched patiently as past members in their Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy accepted the senior robotics challenge. Now it’s their turn.

Last week, the D’Penguineers got their marching orders: It’s time to prepare for Breakaway, the latest game created for the national FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition.

Team 1717, as the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy is known in FIRST, spent the previous week learning the game, determining the best strategy for winning it, and dreaming up a robot design that will allow the D’Penguineers to excel at competitions.

“Obviously, there looks like there’s a lot more going on (with this year’s game),” said Amir Abo-Shaeer, DPEA director and science teacher, “but after you soak it in from an engineering perspective, you see that there are equivalent challenges to what we’ve done in the past.”

Robots in Breakaway score points for their team by, somehow, booting soccer balls into corner goals for one point apiece on a 27-by-54-foot field. For additional points, robots can mount a tower on their side of the field and hang on it for two points, or have a robot hang from them while they’re hanging for three points.

“You can think, ‘We’re going to hang and have two robots hang off us,’ but is that realistic? I don’t know,” Abo-Shaeer said. “If we decide to do that and we achieve that, it will be a feat that’s more complicated than what was achieved on last year’s robot.”

And if teams focus on trying to lift one another at the tower, then they might be sacrificing the other challenge within the game — bending it like Beckham into corner soccer goals.

“There will be teams that do the analysis and say, ‘The most balls that our robot can ever score on its own are three, so why do we want to spend all of our time doing that?’” Abo-Shaeer said.

“We’re looking at it like, ‘We want to do this, that and the other thing,’ because our goal every year is to build the best robot in the world. That’s our goal every year. And, hopefully, that will lead to winning.”

The students on Team 1717 know what they’re up against. They’ve watched other seniors enter this rite of passage in the academy. They will meet every day after school until 9 p.m. and spend eight hours every Saturday designing and building their robot until it’s shipped to their first competition site on Feb. 23.

“I’m expecting to be really exhausted and tired,” Alexis Chasney said with a smile. “But I know that when it’s over, I will have such a fundamental knowledge of engineering that I’ll be ahead of every other engineering student entering college who didn’t compete in FIRST. And, I’ll be handy around the house. That’s important, too.”

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“I’ve waited to do this since I was in eighth grade and signed up for the academy,” added Jack Brown, who specializes in computer-aided design for Team 1717. “Now that I’m finally doing it, it almost doesn’t seem real to me. I’ve always seen other people doing it. This week, I’ve seen guys from last year’s team visiting us. I want to tell them, ‘Hey guys, go to work.’ But, really, it’s my turn to finally do this.”

Last year, Team 1717 was a runner-up at its first regional in Long Beach, then went 15-0 in qualifications and tournament play at UC Davis to win the Sacramento Regional and advance to the national championship in Atlanta. At the Georgia Dome, the D’Penguineers were one victory away from reaching the tournament’s Final Four when they were ousted by the eventual national champion. The team was honored in Atlanta with the Motorola Quality Award, which is given to the best-designed robot at the competition.

All of which is a lot to live up to for this year’s team, but the D’Penguineers know that the nature of FIRST competitions force the participants to temper their expectations. Building a functional robot is only half the battle. The game requires teams to compete in three-team alliances. In the qualification rounds, alliances are formed at random, which means you may work with an elite team, or you may have to carry the dead weight of a less-experienced team.

Mentor Matt Dubberley, left, helps Sam Skopp and Casey Donahue work in the woodshop. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk photo)

“It’s different from most team sports because you’re competing, but you’re also getting to work with other teams,” said Sam Wopat, a D’Penguineer who was also a member of DP’s girls volleyball team. “It’s a much more positive environment. Team sports can get a little feisty.

“With this, you get to see all the different robots, meet the other teams and get to know people who are there because they like what we like.”

Team 1717’s regional competitions will be held March 4-6 at the San Diego Sports Arena and March 25-27 at the Long Beach Arena. If the D’Penguineers are a member of the winning alliance at either regional, they’ll return to the national championships in Atlanta.

“There is pressure, but winning here has a lot to do with luck because you’re randomly paired with two other robots,” Chasney said. “If they’re both horrible robots, you’re in trouble.

“So, really, our success comes in knowing that we can build a robot that can play the game. First place is really just a cherry on top. We just want to build the best robot.”

This year’s D’Penguineers are Sky Adams, Jenna Becker, Katherine Bonsell, Kimmie Boydston, Jack Brown, Alexis Chasney, Anina Cooter, Bryan Cyr, Anjali Daniels, Casey Donahue, Ellen Feldman, Matt Grace, Cliff Lekas, Oriane Matthys, Chris McAmis, Chris Peterson, Kevin Rohde, Ryan Rosenfeld, Da-Bin Ryu, Nicole Schauser, Eric Schuh, Jack Sharkey, Andy Silverstein, Rashi Singh, Sam Skopp, Nick Su, Hanna Vincent, Nicole Voyen, Helen Wang, Carly Wopat, Sam Wopat and Anjian Wu. Click here for biographies of the team members.

The Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy Foundation has embarked on a $6 million capital campaign to build the Elings Center for Engineering Education on the Dos Pueblos campus, 7266 Alameda Ave. To date, the campaign has raised $1,860,000, which is within $1,140,000 of a $3 million threshold needed for a $3 million state matching grant. Click here to make a donation or for more information.

Sponsors of the program are Afar Communications, Allergan Inc., ATK Space, Dos Pueblos High School, Enerpro Inc., Deckers Outdoor Corp., FLIR Systems, Impulse Advanced Communications, InTouch Health, Las Cumbres Observatory Telescope Network, LeBow Co., Lockheed-Martin, Mentor Corp., NASA, Neal Feay Co., Oracle Corp., Raytheon, Renco Electronics Inc., Rotary Club of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Santa Barbara County Education Office, Santa Barbara School District, Sientra Inc., Tecolote Research Inc. and Valley Precision Products.

— Mike Traphagen is a Noozhawk contributor. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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