Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • November 16, 2011 Robotics team prepares for state showdown by John Koster Six young Glen Rock robotics aficionados will take on New Jersey, and perhaps the world, on Dec. 4. The team, known as the Onions, will take the Robot with No Name to Morristown for the statewide showdown to see which robot performs most efficiently in a two-minute race. “We haven’t given the robot a name yet. We talked about it, but we can do that any time,” said Christina McCrae, one of the Onions. The team, which formed within the Glen Rock school system, includes McCrae, Josh D’Amato, Isaac Peña, Gabby Ranieri, Evan Sandler, and Eric Rivlin. When the school dropped sponsorship of the team, the Onions continued without a school supervisor. McCrae, Peña, and D’Amato recently provided a demonstration of their competition robot on Rock Road in the hopes of obtaining some donations to defray the $600 cost of the kit purchase and other incidental expenses. Each kit allows many options and has to be assembled one piece at a time. “You do all the work yourself,” McCrae said. The Robot with No Name, which is about the size of two shoeboxes one atop the other, is one of many alternatives that can be assembled by a pre-fabricated kit to fulfill specific requirements. The kit includes motors, sensors, and structural components, but the plans are up to the robotics teams. The Dec. 4 contest calls for a robot that can take down stacked plastic crates, select one, and then gather as many rubber balls as possible into the selected crate. D’Amato and Peña demonstrated the dual controls, and even let spectators try, as McCrae provided a narrative at the demonstration. “Isaac’s motto is, ‘It’s a hardware issue,’ whereas Josh’s motto is, ‘It’s a software issue,’” she explained. D’Amato didn’t deny this categorically, but added: “The motto of the group is that we proceed with gracious professionalism.” Inching toward the target crate on bulldozer-type treads, the robot seized the crate with two grabbers, and then reversed direction toward the rubber balls. As the robot bumped into the balls, an exterior-facing sort of paddle wheel with flexible whiskers swept the balls through the robot’s internal corridor. The balls emerged from the oppo- Emmanuel asks... Can You Help? Glen Rock 4-29-09 karen/janine EmmanuelHelp3x.75(4-29-09) 3 x .75 Isaac Peña, Josh D’Amato, and Christina McCrae site side and fell down into the available crate with relentless precision -- interrupted by one that got briefly stuck and resulted in a strange ticking noise. “This is not a good noise,” Peñ said. As if it had heard him -- or heeded the remote controls -- the robot quickly came back to function. In the Glen Rock street test, the Onion team’s robot filled a crate almost to the brim in less than the two minutes allowed, but the Onions said that during an actual test, their robot would be working in direct competition with a number of others in an enclosure four times the size of their demonstration corral, with 100 balls up for grabs rather than a dozen and all the machines eager for more than their fair share. The Onions hope to make a strong showing in Morristown. Corporate and private donations are welcome, and the Robot with No Name might even have a negotiable moniker if the price is right. But win or lose, there will be no tears from the Onions.