The Robots are coming!

The cute little ipods we love and the sassy laptops everyone wants on their bedroom desk — it’s hard to believe these gadgets evolved from two young guys messing around in a dusty Californian garage. Today, however, that garage outfit has morphed into the company we know as Apple.

When people mess around in their garage today, it’s more likely they’ll be producing robots — at least that’s what Microsoft’s Bill Gates reckons. And he should have some idea — he started his business in the garage, too.

New Zealand aims to be at the front of this robot revolution. However, it wants to go beyond the garage (although garages and bedrooms will probably be involved somewhere along the way). It wants young people to be involved, too.

How is all this happening? It’s called the FIRST Robot Competition, and Auckland’s Smales Farm Technology Office Park has just brought it to New Zealand.

The international competition began in the US, and more and more countries have joined over the 17 years it has been running. Dr Diana Twigden, who has organised for New Zealand to join the competition, took a group of 50 students, teachers and industry people to the US in April to check out the American contest in preparation for New Zealand entering it in 2009.

For that competition the people at FIRST’s New Hampshire headquarters will send out (via a webcast) the specifications of the robots students have just six weeks to build. Some of the requirements are already known.

For example, the robots are large — up to 55kg and 1.5 metres high (the size of a small student). Later, the winning robots from the regional competitions around the world are transported to the US for the big robot games, held in Atlanta, Georgia.

This year 24 New Zealand teams from Auckland compete in the firstever Kiwi regional final, with one or two teams then going to the Atlanta contest. The plan is to expand the local contest nationwide the following year.

The Kiwi competition will be held in March 2009, with the international contest taking place in April. Can you join in? You betcha.

The 2009 competition is Auckland-only, but several schools are involved, including Rutherford College in west Auckland; and Glenfield College, Northcote College, Westlake Boys High School, Westlake Girls High School and Carmel College, from Auckland’s North Shore. The aim is to make science and technology fun.

There is also financial backing from industry to make taking part easier. Two Kiwi firms, Glidepath and Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, have already stumped up $50,000 each, and FedEx New Zealand will transport the robots.

Many students who have taken part in the past have gone on to study and work in science or engineering. But, for now, it’s just meant to be just enjoyable. Here’s what one Canadian kid, Oliver Mutton, from Port Perry High School, said: “Robotics is not just about the manufacturing of a robot; it takes community involvement and teamwork. It wasn’t just our school’s robot; it was our town’s robot. It stretched beyond even that.

The experience was totally awesome.” Anyone of high-school age can enter and a wide range of skills are needed: in maths, science, computing, programming, 3D animation, marketing and even finance. It’s a real team effort. As Oliver says, it ends up being everyone’s robot, as teachers, engineers from industry and university mentors get involved to help, and parents pitch in, too. Teams are usually 20 to 30 strong, but can be bigger.

Fancy taking part?

Get on to your science teacher or parents, or your school’s parents’ association, and ask them to contact Keith McMinn at Smales Farm Technology Office Park. Email: keith@smalesfarm.co.nz, or phone: 09-488 2306. Of course, at this stage it’s all about having fun. But if you get the robot-building bug there are lots of opportunities to study or get jobs in areas that use these skills.

Not sure it is fun? Well, the iPod is really just a little computer hard-drive wrapped in a shiny case. And no one got very excited about vacuum cleaners until Dyson built his funky yellow number that just happened to work better than old-school vacuums because it used a brand-new technology Dyson had invented. Beavering away at home, he made 5,127 models before he got there — now that’s dedication!

John Fitzgerald, engineering manager at Glidepath, which is sponsoring FIRST Robot to the tune of $50,000, says he sees the competition as investing in the future. His company wants to recruit people with tech skills, who can work hard and who would like to travel internationally. Sounds sweet.