Local Robotics Team Represents United States in Dubai

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• Local Robotics Team Represents United States in Dubai

Root Negative One Robotics: FTC 9879, a robotics team from Don Tyson School of Innovation in Springdale, represented the United States at the 2019 FIRST Global Challenge in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. They were chosen out of 7,000 teams across the nation and competed against teams representing more than 185 nations, Oct. 24-27 at the Festival Arena in Dubai.

FIRST stands for, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The organization is known for its robotics competitions for kids of various ages. Students design, build and program a robot to compete in a floor game.

The team, mentored by University of Arkansas Industrial Engineering faculty members Richard Cassady and Chase Rainwater, was selected for the honor after taking the top award at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship, in Houston, Texas, in April.

The team has been together for five years, and were ecstatic at the news they had been selected. Once the initial delight faded, the reality of securing funding to support their venture became apparent. The community rapidly and enthusiastically came to their rescue.

Heath Ward, president of the Springdale Rotary Club, said fellow Rotarian and School District Superintendent Jim Rollins brought the team’s accomplishments to Ward’s attention. The club’s board approved their donation. Don Tyson School of Innovation Principal, Kelly Boortz was also supportive, as was the Northwest Arkansas Council, Cassady said. Derek Burleson, a Tyson representative said, “We’re proud to support these incredible students who are representing our community on a global stage.”

Each team at the FIRST Global Challenge must consist of three to five students, ages 14-18, along with one adult technical mentor/coach and one team organizer.

Root Negative One has 14 students. The five who competed in Dubai are all seniors: Meghan Boen, Bryant Cassady, Abby Herrera, Sara Manos and Catalina Peterson. Coaches Cassady and Rainwater count as the two adults accompanying the team. Bryant Cassady is Richard Cassady’s son.

Kate Bowden and Isaac Brown also made the trip. The pair played a critical role in the team being chosen to represent the United States. Dru Samuelson, an engineering and robotics teacher at the School of Innovation also made the trip. They served in volunteer roles, Cassady said.

The Dubai Future Foundation covered the airfare for the five student competitors and two adults, a contribution worth about $10,000. Money the team raised covered the airfare for the other two students and one adult.

In preparation for the robotics competition, the team was sent a box of parts with no instructions to create their own robot and compete for the title of best in the world. Team members held an open house to display their final robot Oct. 18.

Herrera, Team USA’s spokesperson, said the team’s competitive nature led them to the world championship last year – winning the top award – and giving them a chance to compete on the global stage as the only team representing the U.S.A.

“Even though we build robots, we do extensive community outreach and advocacy to try to increase participation of robotics in public schools and around our community,” Herrera said. “What appeals to me is the community engagement.”

For team member Manos, the event was a celebration. “This event was less about winning for us and more about celebration of the work that we’ve done and celebration of the global robotics community,” Manos said. “It was an amazing experience on both fronts.”

Getting there proved to be an ordeal. The team left Springdale by charter bus at 2 a.m. Oct. 22 for Dallas, where they were scheduled to catch a noon flight direct to Dubai. That flight was delayed -- first three hours, then six, then nine. The group took another bus more than 200 miles south to Houston to catch a different flight to Dubai. It added up to a day and a half of travel. “We were very exhausted,” Manos said.

During the competition, His Excellency, Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the U.S., met with the team. He wished them luck and discussed the development of their robot built to solve this year’s challenge of cleaning up pollutants in the ocean.

The young people participating in the Challenge are helping create a better future through bold, creative thinking. Many of them will go on to invent cures and develop solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, including climate change,” he said.

The game, called “Ocean Opportunities,” involved two competing alliances -- each comprised of three teams from different nations -- working to clear the playing field, or “ocean,” of different-sized balls representing pollutants. Robots have 2 minutes and 30 seconds to collect the pollutants and deliver them to specific processing areas. Root Negative One won five of its nine matches and finished with a ranking of 62 out of 189 teams.

 

Abby Herrera said her favorite part of the trip was getting to know people from other countries, including Barbados, Libya, Vanuatu and the United Arab Emirates.

They met, in person for the first time, two teams they have been mentoring long-distance: one from Syria and another from Eritrea. They also met Rick Perry, the U.S. Secretary of Energy.

Herrera said she and her teammates frequently found themselves giving U.S. geography lessons. “For a lot of teams, it was their first time hearing about Arkansas,” Herrera said. “So we definitely know that some people will go home knowing where Arkansas is on the map.”

The team earned the Katherine Johnson Award for Engineering Documentation silver award, which recognizes teams for their work demonstrating the journey they took in building their robot.

It is one of several awards given out at the competition, each with a gold, silver and bronze designation. The gold Albert Einstein Award, deemed the most prestigious, went to Guyana.

The team is now focused on its regular robotics season through the FIRST Tech Challenge. The first competition of the season is Jan. 11.

This time, they will not have to travel far at all. The competition is in Hot Springs.

 

November 7, 2019