Student-Designed Robots Take on March Madness

WHAT:
Sixty-six national and international high school teams will take their robots to the courts to compete in the 21st season of the Los Angeles regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. This year’s theme is “Rebound Rumble.”

This year’s game consists of two competing teams, each with three robots, on a flat 27-by-54-foot (18.3-by-16.5-meter) field. The teams compete to score as many basketballs in the hoops as they can during a two minute and 15 second match. The higher the hoop in which the basketball is scored, the more points the team receives. The match begins with a 15-second bonus point Hybrid Period in which robots operate independently of driver inputs. During this Hybrid Period, one robot from each team may be controlled using a Microsoft Kinect. The match ends with robots attempting to balance on bridges located in the middle of the field.

Students have six weeks to design, build, program and test their robots to meet the season’s engineering challenge. In this time, students tackle real-world engineering obstacles in teams of 15 to 25 high-school-aged peers – with the help of engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., aerospace and other companies and higher-education institutions. JPL is sponsoring seven robotics teams.

The students are among 51,000 students in more than 2,400 teams from around the world vying to compete in the FIRST championships, to be held April 25 to 29 in St. Louis. The FIRST robotics competition is part of NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project, which aims to expand the number of robotics systems experts available to NASA.

WHO:
Sixty-six high school teams and their coaches and mentors from Southern California,
Las Vegas, Brazil and Chile. See list on next two pages.

WHEN:
Friday, March 16
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Seeding matches

Saturday, March 17
9 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Seeding matches
1:30- 4:45 p.m.
Final rounds and awards

WHERE:
Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, Calif. 90802
Phone: 562-436-3636. Competition admission is free. Parking fees apply.

More information and a short video about FIRST is at http://www.usfirst.org/ .
More information on NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project is at http://robotics.nasa.gov/ .

Los Angeles FIRST robotics competition list of participating high schools

* denotes schools sponsored by JPL

1. Mark Keppel High School, Alhambra
2. Anaheim High School, Anaheim
3. Rosary High School, Anaheim
4. Atascadero High School, Atascadero
5. Saint John Bosco High School, Bellflower
6. Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills
7. John Burroughs High School, Burbank*
8. Canoga Park High School, Canoga Park
9. California Academy of Mathematics & Science, Carson
10. Don Antonio Lugo High School, Chino
11. Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Corona
12. Culver City High School, Culver City
13. Oxford Academy, Cypress
14. El Segundo High School, El Segundo
15. Troy High School, Fullerton
16. Dos Pueblos High School, Goleta
17. Granada Hills Charter High School, Granada Hills
18. Centinela Valley Union High School, Hawthorne
19. Da Vinci Science, Hawthorne
20. Hope Chapel Academy High School, Hermosa Beach*
21. Huntington Park High School, Huntington Park
22. Shadow Hills High School, Indio
23. St. Mary’s Academy, Inglewood
24. Inglewood Charter High School, Inglewood
25. La Canada High School, La Canada*
26. Crescenta Valley High School, La Crescenta*
27. Clark Magnet High School, La Crescenta*
28. La Puente High School, La Puente
29. Foshay Learning Center, Los Angeles
30. Fremont High School, Los Angeles
31. King Drew High School, Los Angeles
32. Manual Arts High School, Los Angeles
33. Marymount High School, Los Angeles
34. Crenshaw High School, Los Angeles
35. Milken Community High School, Los Angeles
36. West Adams Preparatory Senior High School, Los Angeles
37. Loyola High School, Los Angeles
38. Helen Bernstein Complex, Los Angeles
39. Bishop Alemany High School, Mission Hills
40. Newbury Park High School, Newbury Park
41. Hart High School, Newhall
42. Campbell Hall School, North Hollywood
43. Orcutt Academy High School, Orcutt
44. John Muir High School, Pasadena*
45. El Rancho High School, Pico Rivera
46. Mira Costa High School, Redondo Beach
47. Eisenhower High School, Rialto
48. Poly High School, Riverside
49. Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Rolling Hills Estates
50. Rolling Hills Preparatory School, San Pedro
51. Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana
52. Academy of the Canyons, Santa Clarita*
53. Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks
54. South East High School, South Gate
55. Harvard-Westlake School, Studio City
56. Bridges Academy, Studio City
57. South High School, Torrance
58. High Tech-LA High School, Van Nuys
59. Saint Bonaventure High School, Ventura
60. Ventura County ROP, Ventura
61. Chaminade High School, West Hills
62. Chaminade College Preparatory, West Hills
63. Phineas Banning High School, Wilmington

Nevada and international schools:

64. Cimarron-Memorial High School, Las Vegas, Nev.
65. Region Metropolitana, Santiago, Chile
66. Sao Pedro High School, Porto Alegre, RS Brazil

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.