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AMD has sponsored multiple FIRST® Robotics Competition teams for the 2024 season. The FIRST® Robotics Competition teaches high-school-aged students how to build robots that can perform specific tasks, while also giving them an opportunity to learn important business and time-management skills, teamwork, and the value of giving back to the community.
Thousands of students from teams around the world compete in the FIRST® program each year. And, for more than a decade, every one of them has used an NI RoboRIO controller, powered by an AMD Zynq™ adaptive SoC, to build their robots.
Two of the teams that AMD sponsored this year are Titan Robotics (Team #5587) from Alexandria City High School (ACHS) in Alexandria, Va., and Live Oak (Nuts and Bolts) Robotics (Team #7528), based in Morgan Hill, Calif.
Titan Robotics was founded in 2015 and has more than 70 members this year.
One of the biggest aspects of the FIRST® program is that it encourages teams to get involved in sharing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) opportunities in their communities. "Our team really prioritizes community impact," said ACHS senior Jack Pache, the team's chief operating officer. "We've won the FIRST® Robotics Competition Impact Award for community service at district championships in each of the last three years. It qualified us to go to the national competition in Houston."
Pache said Titan Robotics has created 21 K-8 teams that are now involved in FIRST® Lego League (FLL) or First Tech Challenge (FTC) programs. The team has also participated in many outreach events every year, including school STEM nights, and hosts six or seven annual summer camps, focusing on such topics as physics, coding, and mechanical engineering -- all planned and taught by Titan Robotics students.
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Team #5587 "Titan Robotics" stops for a picture at the FIRST® Championship in Houston, Texas |
"We believe STEM education should be accessible to everyone," Pache said. "Barriers shouldn’t prevent students from pursuing STEM if they are interested in it. Last year 70% of our campers came free of charge, thanks to sponsor donations. Sponsor funding also provides weekly dinners and lunches for the team and helps pay for lodging and operational expenses.
Quinn Lindsey, the team's chief technical officer, said the theme of this year's FIRST® Robotics Competition was “Crescendo.” During the challenge, each robot had to pick up a foam ring and shoot it into a structure, called The Speaker. "The first 15 seconds of the match are autonomous (purely code) and the next 2-1/2 minutes are driver-controlled," Lindsey said. "At the end of the match, your robot has to climb a chain and be raised up for five seconds. We have two motors controlling that subsection of our robot."
This year's team robot is named "iBeam." It stands less than four feet tall on a square base and weighs about 95 pounds. Lindsey said one of the "coolest" things about the robot is its arm assembly. "We found a way to combine all of the robot's subsystems into one. This has helped to reduce potential points of failure. Another cool feature is that the intake and shooter are on opposite sides of the robot. It takes foam rings in on one side and shoots them out the other."
The FIRST® program has definitely had a positive impact on the students in Titan Robotics.
Junior Samah Shummo, the team's fundraising lead, has been part of Team #5587 for three years. She says one of the greatest things about the robotics program at ACHS is that it's open to everyone. "We have a slogan: 'No cuts. No fees. No experience required.' We take people regardless of experience and financial situation, because we want everyone who has an interest in robotics to have the opportunity to get involved."
Lindsey joined the team as a freshman and is now in her third year of the FIRST® robotics program. "I got involved because of friends who were pushing me to join," she said, "but I quickly fell in love with the program. During my freshman year, I learned how to design, and in my sophomore year, I became a mechanical lead. The ability to learn quickly and get excited about robotics was one of the big factors that kept me going."
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Titan Robotics built the "iBeam" robot which is participating in the 2024 FIRST® Robotics Competition season. |
Each student leader on the team has certain tasks they are assigned to, including mechanical and electrical engineering, safety, operations, outreach, and marketing. Students can rotate within the team to gain exposure to a variety of different skills.
"I came into the team not knowing what I wanted to do," Lindsey said, "but as soon as I touched a tool and started working, I got excited. For the majority of my life, I thought I wasn't smart enough for robotics. But once I got here, everything started clicking. When I built my first robot, I said this is what I want to do for the rest of my life."
Shummo said she wants to be a chemical engineer when she grows up. " FIRST® has given me the opportunity to see many different paths I could take with engineering."
Nuts and Bolts
Live Oak High School's “Nuts and Bolts” robotics program was named a "Rookie All-Star" by the FIRST® community in 2018, its inaugural season. This year, Team #7528 has about 40 members, and the students in the program continue to thrive.
Charlotte Anderson, a junior, is the team's business lead. "A friend of mine kept telling me about the team and what she was learning," Anderson said, when asked what prompted her to join the team. "I started going to meetings at the beginning of last year and was quickly made part of the mechanical team where I learned a lot. This year, I moved over to the business side of the program, and I definitely find it interesting."
Sophomore Katherine Trod joined FIRST® at the encouragement of her sister who graduated from the school the year the team was started. "I went to the first meeting and discovered that most of the team's leadership was women, and it really felt like this was a good community to be part of. So far it's been a fun and challenging experience."
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This year, the Live Oak team has built a 75-pound robot named “Walnut” that stands approximately three feet tall and sits on a 30-inch square base. The robot, which has been designed to lift and place objects, has participated in two regional competitions this year, and will be heading to Sacramento for the Capital City Classic in October.
When not competing, the team is also very involved in building STEM education in the community. The team hosts summer camps, teaches Girl Scouts how to code and earn badges, and is working with a local middle school to set up their FIRST® Lego League team. They also host two STEM nights to promote technology and engineering to prospective students.
"I usually attend STEM nights as an observer and talk to parents," said team mentor, Brent Taira. "You can see parents wanting to learn more about the program as they evaluate where to send their kids to high school. My hope is that some of these kids will come to the robotics program as Freshmen and become engineers when they grow up."
Jillian Ray, the team's faculty co-advisor, said the students commit a fair amount of time to the program. "We meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school until 7:00 or 9:00 p.m., and on Saturdays as well, during build season," she said. " It's a huge time commitment, but I really enjoy the students and the program is fun and interesting."
"The kids are great to work with," Taira added. "They want to learn and try out new things. I wish we had this when I was their age."
This year, the team was able to take over a staff lounge, and for the first time, have their own dedicated workspace at the school. Anderson works with sponsors, creating STEM nights, and keeping the club funded through outreach, while Trod manages program requirements and keeps students on task with time management.
"Our students do everything," Taira said. "They're learning a lot more than robotics."
AMD has long been committed to the robotics space. Its adaptive computing platforms offer low latency and deterministic, multi-axis control with built-in safety and security on a modular platform that is scalable for the future. In addition to FPGAs and adaptive SoCs, the company’s offerings include adaptive system-on-module devices that provide a ready-made, off-the-shelf solution for roboticists. The company also offers the Kria™ KR260 Robotics Starter Kit to accelerate time-to-market for AI-enabled robotics, machine vision and industrial communications and control applications. For more information, please visit: www.amd.com/robotics.