News & Events
City Tech-Trained High School Students Do Well in Robot Competition
Science Skills Center High School
FIRST Robot Competition team
A talented team of City Tech-trained Science Skills Center High School students from Brooklyn did well in this year’s New York City Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robot Competition in March. In the qualification round, the Science Skills team ranked 10th and advanced to the quarter final round. It’s score was higher than those of the city’s three specialized science high schools – Stuyvesant, which ranked 12th, Bronx Science, 29th, and Brooklyn Tech, 30th. In the quarter-finals, Science Skills partnered with Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech, but the alliance finished behind another group of three strong teams that had placed 1st, 3rd and 13th in the earlier qualification round. Dr. Andy Zhang, of City Tech’s Department of Mechanic Engineering Technology, served as a robot inspector at the FIRST Robot Competiton.
“We’re extremely proud of the outstanding showing by the Science Skills team,” said Dr. Sidi Berri, who chairs the mechanical engineering technology department. The department is a highly multidisciplinary enterprise that trains students in mechanical engineering technology, computer-aided design, CAD/CAM, rapid prototyping, 3-D modeling and manufacturing and assembly of machine parts. As part of this effort, the department continues to develop new programs in industrial design, including robotics and simulation.
The department engages in partnerships with local high schools that encourage students to pursue studies in science and technology. In October 2004, faculty invited colleagues from the Science Skills Center High School for a tour of the department. Following the visit, the department agreed to help the high school’s FIRST Robot Competition student team design and construct a robot for the 2005 New York City Regional competition.
“The FIRST Robotic Competition involved several elements,” Dr. Berri added, “including design of a robot mechanism, solid modeling of its physical components, and design of a robot control system. A computer was required at each stage of the process, and the high school students learned to use computer graphics to design 2-D and 3-D models of each component. These designs must be visually correct and the sizes, shapes and scale of the various components must be absolutely precise to ensure that each piece will fit with the others. The software models were then used to produce accurate plans and also to control the machines that create the physical parts.”
“The services provided to the FIRST students by City Tech faculty members were on a voluntary basis,” Dr. Berri went on. “The first phase of the training, which began in November 2004, provided an overview of the FIRST robot competition, coupled with workshops on 3-D computer-aided design. In the second phase of training, students studied robotic control systems, CAD/CAM and manufacturing processes using CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines.”
04/20/05
