Local IEEE Section members supported the Tennessee Valley BEST High School robotics competition this fall, which took place October 6th at Calhoun Community College, Decatur, Alabama. BEST stands for "Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology" and Texas Instruments engineers Ted Mahler and Steve Marum founded the BEST competition in 1993. For more information on the BEST competition and history, check out the http://www.bestinc.org website. Eighteen area high schools and middle schools participated in this year’s Tennessee Valley BEST competition.
This was the first year the local IEEE Section supported this competition. Members Courtney Spivey, Willie Fitzpatrick, Bob Robinson, Keith Jadus, Jim Covington and Wayne Kendrick volunteered as technical consultants and assistants. They formed the TV BEST “A-Team". The A-Team distributed and collected electrical components that BEST, Inc. loaned to the schools for the competition. The A-Team provided technical support to troubleshoot robot electronics problems encountered by the school teams. Jim Covington's experience with hobby-grade radio controlled motors proved invaluable to A-Team troubleshooting.
The A-Team was responsible for the installation and operation of an electronic tie-braking system during the competition. This system comprised pressure sensitive switches and a timing device that recorded the order robots "made it out of the gate" when a competition round started. Four robots at a time competed on the play field, with the highest scoring robots proceeding forward to the next competition round. The judges based scoring on the number and types of items collected and deposited in the team's respective collection area. If teams scored identically for tasks completed, then the time to start served as the tie breaking system. Courtney Spivey served as timing device operator during the competition.
The A-Team served in various capacities outside electronic component responsibilities. They helped set up the play field the night before the competition and served as compliance judges for robot check-in the morning of the competition. A-Team members Willie Fitzpatrick, Bob Robinson, Keith Jadus, Jim Covington and Wayne Kendrick verified robot size, weight and material restrictions. The time consuming compliance process included verifying a large checklist of accepted materials for robot construction. The A-Team quickly checked in and processed all eighteen teams, allowing ample time for teams to practice and troubleshoot anomalies. |
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Overall, this year's TV Best competition went off smoothly, and the A-Team members all reported having a great time.. For more information on the Tennessee Valley BEST competition, check out their website at www.tennesseevalleybest.org. The top four teams from the local competition proceed to the next level, the regional South BEST (see www.southsbest.org). Next year the local IEEE Section will again be a contributor to the TV BEST competition, with equipment inventory and maintenance and new equipment acquisition taking place next spring. If you are interested in participating as an A-Team volunteer, contact Willie Fitzpatrick at wfitzpatrick@ieee.org or Keith Jadus at Keith.Jadus@us.army.mil. Next year local teams may also be looking for mentors or a local school may want to get into the competition as a new team. If you are interested in being a mentor or forming a new team, contact Sue Mitchell at sue@calhoun.edu. We hope to see you next year!!!
Wayne Kendrick
Chair, IEEE Controls Systems Society Chair
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