Last update: 6:27 PM 2/20/2008
BEST is a robot competition near me, taking place at Lipscomb University, and I just HAD to participate.
BEST stands for Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology [I think. Might be something else...]
All teams, when signing up, don't know exactly what robot they will be building until Kickoff Day.
When the fatefull date finally arrives, teams are given a box full of parts, and a detailed rulebook to help them.
Then, they start building the robot using only parts from the box. Teams only have a few weeks of building time, so everyone's going to be busy.
Adults are not allowed to directly participate, but they keep the younger kids from drilling holes in their heads, and sawing limbs off.
Again, only stuff from the box can be used in the construction of the robot. Which means that it's more fair [Hah!]. Items are divided into two groups:
- Returnables: The $1,000 radio control equipment, awesome gearmotors, speed-controllers, super-batteries, etc. These are given back after the competition is over, so that the they can be used by other people.
Additionally, since they are going to be given back, they cannot be modified, i.e. "souped-up", "Destroyed", or "Busted."
- Consumables: Bits of wire, PVC, wood, screws, etc. These don't have to be given back, and can be modified to high heaven. (Only a robot nut like me would be thrilled at the prospect of getting to gut my own robot to keep a few bits of wire and PVC)
- There are additional rules about the items, but I covered only the basics. More rules can be found at their site:
their site:
Here, I will eventually chronicle my team's adventures in this competition, but then again, maybe not.
My team is the Homeschooling team. We have five to six members, most experienced in some way with electronics. The other teams are Public schooling teams, with thirty to thirty-five members each.
The odds are against us, but it won't be all that bad if we lose right off the bat, 'cause I get to keep a few bits of WIRE, DEAD CELLULOSE AND POLYVYNYLCHLORIDE(sic)! YAY!!
Saturday, 5:32 PM 10/13/2007, Mall Day is rapidly approaching. The team has shifted into high gear. It'll take a superhuman effort to get the robot finished on time.
Have I mentioned how hard it is to make wheels out of plywood? Very. So much of a bother, we shoud have gone with legs. Or made the wheels square.
Remember, we are not reinventing the wheel, just remanufacturing it/them.
If the darn thing works, we will probably have a good chance of at least survival in the first couple of rounds or so.
If you want to see my bolg entries about it, see: my blog page.
6:23 PM 2/20/2008:
Here is some info about BEST:
BEST is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, and technology through participation in a sports-like, science and engineering-based robotics competition.
BEST Robotics Inc. started in 1993 with 14 competing schools and 221 students. Today BEST has over 700 middle and high schools and over 10,000 students participating each fall.
BEST features two parallel competitions:
A robotics game, which is based upon an annual theme with four teams competing at once in a series of three-minute, round-robin matches.
The BEST Award, which is presented to the team that best embodies the concept of Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology. Elements include a project summary notebook, oral presentation, table display, and spirit and sportsmanship.
Each school is provided kits of equipment and parts, a set of game rules, and given six weeks to design, build, and test a small Radio/Controlled (R/C) robot that outperforms other robots. Winning teams from local competition sites (called hubs) advance to regional championship sites.
I competed in BEST last semester so I could learn more about the practical construction of robots and how to work together with others. My Mom put together a four family home school team which worked for six weeks in our garage. We were a small team without expensive power tools or experienced instructors. The competition we faced had professional workshops, trained engineer instructors and up to eighty team members. Against all odds, we finished in third and it was the first time a home school team had ever placed.
Our robot was designed to go out of a start square, take a turn, go up a ramp (more difficult for robots than you may think), to a raised platform in the center of the playing field, grab as many small cardboard boxes and water bottles as possible, then run down a ramp on the opposite side of the playing field to a walled-in scoring bin, and dump the scoring items inside. The team that got the most scoring items won.
We had enough electronics to accomplish the job, but for mechanics, we were supplied a large bundle of various PVC fittings and pipes, steel rods, plywood, screws, nuts and bolts, etc.
We had to engineer a functional masterpiece in order to just get the thing going. On top of that, everyone had their own idea on how things should be done.
It was a miracle that the robot actually worked. The only thing to plague us was the gripper shape, which was always too small or large. Another problem was that our robot, although faster and more robust than most, was trumped by two other, higher quality, expertly designed modern marvels of technology, precision engineered to leave everyone else in their dust (which they did). This is not to say that any of the higher-scored teams were snobs to the others. Great sportsmanship abounded.
We were pleasantly surprised when one of the faster teams dropped a load of high-scoring game objects into our bin. This propelled us into fourth place and into the finals. The finals were fierce and electrifying like a fleet of cutthroat bumper cars in a Friday rush hour traffic jam. But we prevailed and won third place. Considering our limitations, this was a spectacular feat.
In a few weeks, I will be meeting with the BEST coordinators to make plans for next year�s (2008) competition. I plan on putting together a larger team and starting earlier since I will be the instructor and not relying on parents for help.
Will post pictures of the competition... eventualy.