H.S. competition is anything but robotic
Raider Robotix team holds event to raise travel funds, interest in science
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer
The township high school Raider Robotix team held its sixth annual Brunswick Eruption competition on Saturday, an off-season robotics event designed to foster an interest in science and technology while providing funds for the team to travel to off-site regional competitions.

SCOTT FRIEDMAN staff Members of the North Brunswick Township High School Raider Robotix team wait in anticipation of the final results of the sixth annual Brunswick Eruption off-season competition, hosted by North Brunswick on Saturday. For the story, see page 6.

Each January, schools participating with the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization receive specifications as to how to build a robot. The schools work with local engineers and then compete at regionals during the spring, battling teams from across the country in an athletic-based game. They then participate in additional off-season challenges to learn more about other teams and to enhance their exposure to the world of mechanics.

Last weekend, North Brunswick's event attracted over 35 schools from the East Coast and Canada for a giant 3-D Racks 'N Roll game, similar to tic-tac-toe, where robots had to use their arms to lift up inflatable tubes and place them on posts.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Above: Andrew Reisinger of Vernon High School works the controls at the North Brunswick Township High School Raider Robotix Brunswick Eruption 6 on Saturday. Left: Michael Bauer and Lauren Fackelman of the North Brunswick Raider Robotix team make last-minute adjustments to their robot, Evil Machine V.

"It's a lot of fun to host this and work it and definitely experience what the other teams had to do to get ready for this," said Raider member Lauren Fackelman. "It feels great because teams acknowledge us and want to be a part of this … even for just one day."

Andrew Douglas, the team captain of the RoboRaiders from Hillsborough, said his teammates began planning the concepts of their robot six months prior to receiving last year's game specifications. Using a more reliable, simple, lighter system, their robot was built with a drive train like a car, which he said no other team has been able to do.

"It's a small competition but it allows a lot of teams to experience new people and new designs. It gives a new team dynamic," he said of Brunswick Eruption. "It gives me a chance, as captain, to see what the team is going to be like this year with improvements or in terms of how we work together."

"For certain people who want to become engineers, this gives them a foundation. It makes boring subjects like physics and stuff more interesting when you know what you're doing. Plus, it's really cool," said Mahmoud Raslan of William E. Grady High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. He said that alumni of his Nuts & Volts team have gone on to receive full scholarships to Polytechnic University in New York.

For others, the experience of being part of a team provides social learning in addition to scientific learning, such as the Sinclair Sprockets who traveled from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, to visit North Brunswick for the first time. Mitchel Owen, of the Sinclair Secondary School, said his team drove 11 hours by car, with a U-Haul, to visit New Jersey for the first time. He said the team members got to know each other really well, learning what forms a bond and what causes more stress. He also said the potential of each member is more fully realized as they spend more time together.

"This offers a lot more than in a classroom, by doing this," he said.

Owen also said that the competitions in Canada do not vary greatly from those in the States.

"There is almost no difference in culture, except maybe we say, 'Eh,'" he laughed. "We are all here for the same reason and we are all here for the same goal."

The new season will begin at the beginning of the year. North Brunswick will utilize the expertise of engineers from Bristol-Myers Squibb in hopes of traveling to Trenton and Hawaii for important regionals.

The 2007 season saw the Raiders win the New Jersey regional and place second in the Connecticut regional, as well as receive the General Motors Industrial Design Award and the Web Site Excellence Award. In 2006, the team placed second in the world during nationals and were honored with the Chairman's Award for best representing a model other teams can emulate, and the Woody Flowers Award for best coaching during the New Jersey regional. They are also featured in the latest publication of "FIRST Robotix: Behind the Design" and have a rookie card designed by the publisher.

For more information, visit www.raiderrobotix.org.