MEDIA RELEASE

Are your kids tired of staying home watching each other? Drop into Earl’s Garage! Earl’s Garage will be open for FREE activities throughout the winter break.

Glitter & Gizmos
Start a fun project, learn a new skill, watch a movie with a friend (G or PG rated), get help with homework. Stay for a while, or the whole day, either way, we know they’ll smile. Little sisters and brothers welcome too. Grades 2 and up. No reservations required. Just bring your lunch, snacks, and closed-toe shoes.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
December 21 – 23, & December 28 – 30
9:30 am – 4:30 pm

Wednesday
December 24 & 31
9:30 am – noon

Monday – Friday
January 4 – 8
9:30 am – 4:30 pm

Earl’s Garage Robotics Club
Learn all you need to know to rule the world AND have more fun than you thought possible. For GIRLS and boys Grades 5 and up. To get started, call to schedule your 1 hour orientation. 885-6777

Monday – Friday
January 4 – 8
2:30 – 4:30 pm

Located in the Kamuela Business Center, Earl’s Garage is a project of Friends of the Future, a nonprofit organization. There is no fee to participate. Donations are accepted to support operation. For more information call 885 – 6777

MEDIA RELEASE

Second Annual Pan-Pacific VEX Robotics Championship concludes as
students enthusiastically showcase STEM skills, problem solving and critical thinking

HONOLULU – Nearly 1,000 middle and high school robotics students from Hawai‘i, California, Nevada and China put their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to the test for the past three days in a friendly, spirited competition that pitted robots against robots, and showcased students’ ingenuity, teamwork and ability to think analytically under pressure.

Throughout the second annual VEX Robotics Pan-Pacific Championship, which started Thursday and wrapped up tonight at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, 132 qualifying matches took place between 86 student teams from 48 Hawai‘i, mainland and Chinese schools. Teams squared off in the game of “Clean Sweep.”

The object of the “Clean Sweep” challenge is for two-team alliances to maneuver their robots to place as many small, medium and large balls as possible onto their opponent’s side of the field and by “locking up” small balls in triangular goals.

Twenty-four teams, including 18 from Hawai‘i, competed in the final championship rounds. The eight three-team alliances that competed in the finals were:
1. Highlands Intermediate, McKinley High (Team E), Moanalua High (Team C)
2. Bellarmine College Preparatory (Teams A, B and C) – San Jose, CA
3. Kalaheo High, McKinley High (Team F), Moanalua High (Team A)
4. Honoka‘a High, McKinley High, Waiakea High
5. Campbell High, Hawai’i Baptist Academy, Campbell High (Team B)
6. Nanning Minzhu Primary School (Teams A) – Guangxi, China; Changping Middle School, Guangdong Province, China; High School Attached to Northeast Normal University – Jilin Province, China
7. Kalani High, McKinley High (Team D), Farrington High
8. Waialua High & Intermediate (Team A), Mililani High (Teams A and B)

In the end, the three-team alliance from Bellarmine College Preparatory took the top honors, finishing as the Pan-Pacific Champions.

The alliance of Honoka‘a High, McKinley High and Waiakea High earned second place in the Championship.

Four Hawai’i schools who competed at the Pan Pacific Championship qualified to advance to the VEX Robotics World Championship that will take place at the Dallas Convention Center and Arena April 22 – 24, 2010, including: Honokaa High School, Waiakea High School, McKinley High School, Pearl Highlands Intermediate. At the World Championship, these winning teams will have the opportunity to challenge their top-ranked peers from other countries around the world, including teams from the Asian Robotics League, South America and Europe.

Other award-winning teams include:
McKinley High (Team E) – Robot Skills Champion and Programming Skills Champion
Bellarmine College Preparatory (Team A) – Robot Skills, second place
Lahainaluna High (Team M) – Programming Skills, second place
Nanning Minzhu Primary (Teams A and B) – Judges Award for potential
Hawai’i Baptist Academy – Think Award
Iolani School – Energy Award
Lahainaluna High – Judge’s Award
Honokaa High – Judges Award
Kalaheo High – Build Award
Kaua‘iBots – Create Award
Kaiser High and Niu Valley Middle – Sportsmanship Award
Bellarmine College Preparatory – Amaze Award
Pearl Highlands Intermediate – Excellence Award (Middle School)
McKinley High – Excellence Award (High School)

Robotics education is a key component of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Hawai‘i Innovation Initiative, which seeks to transform Hawai‘i’s economy from one based on land development to one based on the innovative capacity of Hawai‘i’s residents, especially our youth. Robotics in a larger sense provides students with a strong educational foundation in science, technology, engineering and math, and offers them opportunities to solve problems, work as teams and think analytically – skills useful in any career.

VEX Robotics is one of six major programs in which Hawai‘i students can participate. The six programs which fall under the umbrella of the Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC)includes VEX, FIRST Robotics, FIRST LEGO League, Botball, Underwater Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV), and Micro Robotics.

Recognizing the importance of promoting robotics at an early age and sustaining students’ interest in STEM education throughout their schooling, the six robotics programs which previously operated autonomously earlier this year joined together to form the Hawai‘i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC) (www.robotics.hawaii.gov). This is the first time all six of the robotics programs have coordinated their efforts to promote robotics education in elementary, middle and high schools statewide.

To learn more about student robotics in Hawai‘i as well as to view highlights, photos and videos of the Inaugural VEX Pan-Pacific Championship, visit www.hawaii.gov/gov or www.robotics.hawaii.gov

Other upcoming robotics events:

• Southern California VEX Robotics Championship, December 12, 2009, California State University at Northridge – Campbell High School will travel to compete against California teams.
• Hawai’i FIRST LEGO League (FLL) State Championships, December 19, 2009, Neil S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu – 48 Hawai’i elementary and middle school teams will compete for the title of FLL State Champions and earn a spot in the FIRST World Championship.
• FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Kick-off Ceremony, January 9, 2010, McKinley High School Auditorium – Hawai’i FRC teams will gather for the announcement of this year’s competition. Teams will compete at the FIRST in Hawai’i Regional Robotics Competition at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Stan Sheriff Center, March 25-27, 2010.

MEDIA RELEASE

Nearly 1,000 middle school and high school students from Hawaii, the mainland and China arrive Wednesday at the Hawaii Convention Center for the 2nd annual VEX Robotics Pan-Pacific Championship.

The event is free and open to the public.

The team-based robotics competition will put students’ engineering and high-tech skills to the test in three action-packed days of competition with robots created from the VEX Robotics Design System.

For the last several months, students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, have been working together to build innovative robots designed to solve a set of difficult challenges presented in the game.

During the competition, 90 student teams from Hawaii, the mainland and China schools will square off in the game of “Clean Sweep.”

The object of the “Clean Sweep” challenge is for two-team alliances to maneuver their robots to place as many balls as possible onto their opponent’s side of the field and by “locking up” small balls in triangular goals.

This competition will qualify top teams to compete in two additional international tournaments.

Nine teams from the Pan-Pacific VEX Robotics Championship will qualify for the VEX Robotics World Championship in April in Dallas, and 17 teams will qualify for the CREATE Foundation Championship of the Americas VEX tournament in March in Omaha, Neb.

Robotics education is a key component of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Hawaii Innovation Initiative, which seeks to transform Hawaii’s economy from one based on land development to one based on the innovative capacity of Hawaii’s residents, especially our youth.

Robotics provides students with a strong educational foundation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and offers them opportunities to solve problems, work as teams and think analytically – skills useful in any career.

“The University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Engineering has been excited to see the tremendous enthusiasm for robotics and STEM education over the last decade,” said Dr. Song Choi, assistant dean, College of Engineering.

VEX Robotics is one of six major programs in which Hawaii students can participate. The programs include VEX, FIRST Robotics, FIRST LEGO League, Botball, Underwater Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV), and Micro Robotics.

Recognizing the importance of promoting robotics at an early age and sustaining students’ interest in STEM education throughout their schooling, the six robotics programs which previously operated autonomously joined together to form the Hawaii Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC).

Under the ROC, all six of the robotics programs coordinate their efforts to promote robotics education in elementary, middle and high schools statewide.

As a result of this increased focus on robotics education, the number of robotics programs in Hawaii’s public, private and charter schools has increased dramatically in the last two years.

Since January 2008, participation skyrocketed from 95 teams to 334 today – a 252 percent increase.

The growth has been facilitated by the tremendous support from all sectors of the community, including the Lingle-Aiona Administration; Hawaii businesses; engineering and technology associations; the University of Hawaii and community colleges statewide; the state’s public, private and charter school organizations; NASA; the U.S. military; and private citizens.

Competing teams

Oahu

1.  Aiea Intermediate School

2.  Dole Middle School

3.  Hawaii Baptist Academy

4.  Hawaii Technology Academy

5.  Highlands Intermediate School

6.  Iolani School

7.  James Campbell High School

8.  Kailua Intermediate

9.  Kalaheo High School

10.  Kalani High school

11.  Kamehameha Schools High School Science Dept.

12.  Kasier HS and Niu Valley MS

13.  Leilehua High School

14.  Maryknoll High School

15.  McKinley High School

16.  Mid-Pacific Institute

17.  Mililani High School

18.  Moanalua High School

19.  Nanakuli High & Intermediate

20.  Pearl City High School

21.  Radford High School

22.  St. Andrew’s Priory School

23.  Stevenson Middle School

24.  W.R. Farrington High School

25.  Wahiawa Middle School

26.  Waialua High & Intermediate School

27.  Waipahu High School

28.  Washington Middle School

29.  Wheeler Middle School

Big Island

30.  Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science

31.  Hilo High School

32.  Honokaa High School

33.  Kapaau Intermediate School

34.  Keaau High School

35.  Kohala High School

36.  Konawaena High School

37. Waiakea Intermediate School

38.  West Hawaii Explorations Academy

Maui

39.  King Kekaulike High School

40.  Lahainaluna High School

U.S. mainland

41.  Bellarmine College Prep

42.  Chaminade College Prep

43.  Hyde Park Middle School

China

44.  Xuzhou Youth and Children’s Palace

45.  High School Attached To Northeast Normal University

46.  Nanning Minzhu Primary School

47.  Changping Middle School in Dongguang City

— Find out more:

www.robotics.hawaii.gov

Kelson Lau and Jordan Olive are developing technology that will be implemented on NASA's Lunar Micro Rover. (Photo courtesy of the Governor's Office)

MEDIA RELEASE

While Americans across the country celebrated the 40th anniversary of man’s first walk on the moon this week, two Hawaii students are participating in a NASA summer internship program, where they are developing technology that will be used on the Lunar Micro Rover.

Kelson Lau, a recent Waiakea High School graduate and current University of Hawaii at Manoa student, and Jordan Olive from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, are participating in the NASA Robotics Academy, a NASA multi-center, 10-week residential summer internship for students specifically interested in robotics.  

Both were participants in Waiakea High School’s award-winning student robotics program.

Lau, who was presented with the Governor’s Innovation Award in 2008, is working on the Solid-State Cooling System for the Lunar Micro Rover to test a method of cooling the rover’s CPU and other sensitive electronics such as the motor controller in the harsh lunar environment.

Olive is working on a dust deflection device, and its effectiveness in space, developing circuit boards that will control and regulate power onboard the lunar micro rover, and designing a “hot plate” that will test the rover for space readiness.

“My participation in the Waiakea High School Robotics Program has easily been the best thing that has ever happened to me.  I not only gained many priceless memories, but met amazing mentors and people, made new friends, gained skills, and had amazing opportunities opened for me,” Lau said. 

“I believe that my participation in robotics has given me the skills and confidence needed to participate in the Robotics Academy Internship at NASA and contribute to the program.”

Olive also expressed his appreciation for the skills gained by participating in student robotics programs. 

“Hawaii [is] doing something right! As a newly graduated senior last July, I was very intimidated to join the team of scientists and engineers working on the Lunar Micro Rover at NASA Ames Research Center,” he said. “The experience gained from Waiakea High School’s Robotics and Hawaii Space Grant funded fellowship projects gave me enough ‘know how knowledge’  to actually come up with a device (electrodynamics dust shield) that will actually be implemented on the Lunar Micro Rover. Robotics in Hawaii is no little thing.”

Robotics is a critical component of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Hawaii Innovation Initiative because it engages students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. 

The competition also fosters students’ teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills that will better prepare them to enter the work force.

For more information about student robotics programs, visit www.robotics.hawaii.gov

Learn more about NASA summer internships and the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium fellowship at www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu

Myron B. Thompson Academy Underwater ROV "Delta Sharks" team members include: Darryl Watanabe (team mentor) Quintin Watanabe, Clara Sheffield, Joshua Shigemitsu, Samuel Watanabe, Mark Sheffield, and Jared Swanson. (Photo courtesy of the Governor's Office)

MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaii robotics students showcased their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills last week when they traveled to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to compete in the International MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) Center Underwater Robotics competition.

The competition brought together teams from across the United States, as well as China, Russia and Scotland.

Hawaii teams represented the state with distinction, earning:

Ranger Class:

4th place overall: Myron B. Thompson Academy PCS (Mauna Kea Educational Academy) 

16th place overall: Moanalua High School

24th place overall: Kealakehe Intermediate School

Explorer Class:

9th place overall: Kapiolani Community College

In addition, Moanalua High School was awarded the Martin Bowen Memorial Inspiration for Future Engineers Award – in honor of Martin Bowen, an underwater vehicle engineer and ROV pilot.  

This award is presented to a team or individual who demonstrates passion, creativity, and ingenuity along with a sense of humor, professionalism and kindness toward fellow competitors.

Next year, the International MATE Underwater Robotics competition will be held in Hilo.

Robotics is a critical component of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Hawaii Innovation Initiative because it engages students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. The competition also fosters students’ teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills that will better prepare them to enter the work force.

Underwater ROV (remote operated vehicle) is one of six major robotics programs in which Hawaii’s student have the opportunity to participate. Underwater ROV, along with FIRST Robotics, FIRST LEGO League, Botball, VEX and Micro Robotics make up the Hawaii Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC).

Hawaiian Academy of Art and Sciences team with their ROV and poster

Special to Hawaii247.org by Andrew Cooper

They are made of PVC pipe, nylon zip-ties, wire, bilge pump motors and dreams. They race to complete a task guided by camera eyes, with young hands at the controls.

The 2009 MATE Big Island Regional Underwater ROV Competition was a demonstration of our next generation of engineers and innovators, and a wonderful example of garage engineering.

Kealakehe Intermediate School ROV team preparing for launch of their ROV at poolside

This year was again held at the Sparky Kawamoto Swim Stadium in Hilo and I had again volunteered to be a judge.

Why not? This was too much fun.

I joined with other engineers from Keck, Liquid Robotics and a couple professors from the UofH to see just how well these students could rise to the challenge. My wife also volunteered this year, helping score missions at poolside and from her account having a great time doing it.

The mission was not simple. The ROV had to rescue a crippled submarine sitting on the bottom. First by surveying the damage, then performing tasks such as delivering an air line, opening a hatch to deliver a rescue pod, or docking with the sub.

No matter that the sunken vessel was actually a collection of milk crates at the bottom of a swimming pool, the mission was not easy.

The underwater courses were setup and maintained by several volunteers in scuba gear. They had to place all three test courses in the right position and inspect it between each mission to insure the teams faced the same challenge.

The divers also have some of the best seats in the house, getting to watch the underwater missions first hand. Ripples on the surface of the pool preclude a direct view of the action. The rest of the audience must watch on a pair of large monitors connected to underwater cameras.

This year, I spent most of the time doing presentation scoring, instead of mission scoring. This unfortunately meant I did not get to see most of the action in the pool.

Students from Mauna Kea Educational Academy dealing with an electrical problem aboard their ROV

What I did see was the effort the students put into their craft as presentations. These half-hour interviews gave judges a chance to really ask questions about the ROV’s.

We could see who really did the work (hopefully not mom or the teachers), who really knew the tech, and who among the teams did the building. Most teams had one or two kids who knew the electronics, there was often an appointed pilot and a writer who did the presentation material and reports.

A few questions revealed who these kids were. The most professional report was assembled by students from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the only entrant in the Explorer class.

Kealakehe ROV operating crew concentrating on the monitors during the mission
There were clearly a few teams who had gotten substantial assistance.

During the interviews,  teachers, mentors and parents had to stand silently to the side, only the kids are allowed to answer questions. On the other hand a couple teams knew their stuff.

I was clear they had built the gear themselves and were perfectly prepared to explain why the motor was on the lower strut, and where the red wire went.

Many of these teams were veterans of previous ROV competitions, the experience showed. The craft were much more capable and the student prepared for all phases of the competition.

There is more to engineering than just building a working device. You have to document your design, and often are required present the device to management or to customers.

Accordingly, each team had to submit a technical report on their ROV and had to do a presentation to the judges. These were worth a significant amount of points in the competition, and this was where the rookie teams were often ill prepared.

It was the team from Kealakehe Intermediate School that really showed what experience could do. They had done this last year, winning the regional to go on to the international competition where they had done fairly well.

Kealakehe ROV operating crew concentrating on the monitors during the mission

Not only was their ROV quite capable, they had gotten in a lot of practice, completing the mission goals in short order. They had also spent time perfecting the other aspects of the competition, with a great engineering report and a well rehearsed presentation that covered nearly every item on my score sheet.

This team even treated us to a song about their ROV, a little ditty set to the theme of Sponge Bob.

Kealakehe may have scored highest in the intermediate school group, but they were upset in overall scoring by Mauna Kea Educational Academy, a group of mostly home- school kids who proved they knew how to build an ROV.

Their robot was the most sophisticated by far, a powerful screw driven claw, an on-board relay based motor control system, USB cameras, all assembled very neatly. So neatly it was suspicious of who actually built the craft, suspicions put to rest when electronic problems arose.

The students knew what they were doing when dismantling the housing and working the problem. They soon had the problem fixed and were back in the water where they quickly performed each of the missions.

Next year promises to be even more interesting. Not only is the regional competition again going to be here in Hilo, but the international competition will be hosted by the Big Island. Looking forward to seeing these students again. One more year of experience under their belt should really make the competition intense.

Andrew Cooper: darkerview.com/darkview

Two Big Island High Schools are sending teams to Oahu this week to compete in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition (FRC) Hawaii Regional.

Honokaa High School and Kohala High School will be challenging more than two dozen others schools, including teams from Mexico and the Philippines.

Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST aimed at inspiring young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.

Student teams in FIRST Robotics solve a common engineering problem over six weeks using a standard kit of parts with no instructions.  

This year’s challenge, “Lunacy”, is inspired by the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11.

“Just as NASA scientists landed a man on the moon and returned him safely to earth in 1969, so too will these young people go on and explore new frontiers and develop breakthrough technologies that change the world,” Kamen said.

In the Lunacy game, robots are designed to pick up 9-inch  game balls and score them in trailers hitched to their opponents’ robots for points during a 2 minute and 15 second match. 

Additional points are awarded for scoring a special game ball, the Super Cell, in the opponents’ trailers during the last 20 seconds of the match. 

Lunacy is played on a low-friction floor, which means teams must contend with a surface designed to simulate driving on the moon.

Winning teams from the FIRST in Hawaii Regional will earn the chance to compete in the 2009 FIRST Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, April 16-18.

* 33 high school teams in competition

* 24 Hawaii teams

* 7 U.S. mainland teams from California, Louisiana and Wisconsin

* 2 international teams from Mexico and the Philippines

* More than 1,000 students competing

* More than 600 Hawaii students competing

— Find out more:

Robotics Organizing Committee: http://robotics.hawaii.gov/

MEDIA RELEASE

Friends of the Future
P.O. Box 2655
Kamuela, HI 96743-2655

The award winning Earl’s Garage robotics team is offering a free robotics workshop for kids ages 11 to 18. Kids can learn how to build a robot and control it in this four-day robotics workshop held January 6th through the 9th from 9 am to noon. Earl’s Garage is located in the Kamuela Business Center. Call 885-6777 to register and begin your adventures in the world of robotics with Earl’s Garage.