The Tidings
At St. Luke's: Not your ordinary robot By Sister Nancy Munro, CSJ Forget Tinker Toys, Legos and the animated "WALL-E." VEX Robotics is in at St. Luke School in Temple City.
On Nov. 22, the St. Luke robotics team, with their robot Kamikaze II, won first place in the junior high division of over 22 robots in a local State Farm VEX Robotics Competition at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
More recently, on Jan. 21, St. Luke's Team Kamikaze showcased their robot at a general parent meeting to not only show off the student-made robot, but also to engender interest in more student work with robotics and seek the support of parents as the team advances to the VEX Robotics Championship of the Americas in Omaha, on April 2-4.
Team Kamikaze also has qualified for VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas (April 30-May 2) and will go if enough financial support can be found.
The idea began last summer when brothers Kevin (eighth grade) and Bryan (sixth grade) Kuan enrolled in a robotics workshop at California State Dominguez Hills offered by the California Academy of Math and Science (CAMS), located on the site of the university, and ranked among the nation's top high schools in science and math.
CAMS offered a three-week program for students in grades 5-8. Kevin and Bryan learned the principles of engineering, pneumatics and the language and workings of a robot. Torque became a household word as the two Kuan boys worked each afternoon on simple robots.
"They really got into it," says their mother Mayda, who would arrive at CAMS to pick them up only to find them asking for more time to work. At the end of their program they decided to start a robotics club at St. Luke's.
Kevin and Bryan invited friends Jason Salvador (sixth grade), and Katelyn (sixth grade) and Garrett Stone (eighth grade) to work with them to form a club and team and to build a bigger and better robot. Encouraged by principal Erin Barisano, Team Kamikaze entered the VEX Robotics competition in November --- the only Catholic school to participate at the junior high level in the competition among junior and senior high schools.
In the day-long competition, the game "Elevation" is played by placing two 18"x18"x18" robots on a 12'x12' playing field. Two opposing teams score points by placing sponge boxes on their robot and shoot them at three-inch goals, and by using a remote control to maneuver their robot to accomplish tasks.
Kamikaze maneuvered around opponents picking up sponge blocks with its plastic ties and conveyor belt - the robot "elevated" the blocks down a tube - all within two minutes as the robot also maneuvered the playing field to accomplish tasks. In the end Team Kamikaze scored over 30 points while most of the other teams had less than 10 points.
Each member of Team Kamikaze contributed her or his own part in the creation of the robot, refinement of design and creation according to specifics from VEX Robotics. Katelyn, the lone girl on the team, was especially proud that one of her contributions --- improving the design of the conveyor belt loading dock to meet size and balance specifications --- made the robot more efficient.
VEX Robotics was begun at the inspiration of Dean Kamen, scientist and inventor of a number of surgical devices (such as the stent used during heart surgery on former Vice President Dick Cheney) as well as the Segway.
With the support of their parents, principal Barisano and parish administrator Father Joseph Wah, the Team Kamikaze members --- already very interested in science and engineering and the future of robotics --- have also learned the value of perseverance and teamwork.
"I am so proud of these parents and students for having the passion and for taking the initiative to get this started at St. Luke's," says Barisano. "They really see a future for what can be done for other students. They are laying a foundation for us."
Temple City Tribune
Five young elementary school students from St. Luke Elementary School in Temple City had no idea that in eight months time they would go from a young, underdog robot building team to a Cinderella second-best in the world, besting numerous high school aged teams.
Thoughts of things like torque and gear ratios were totally foreign to them less than a year ago, and now it is part of their everyday vocabulary as they continually brainstorm how their next robot is going to function.
Their journey started last November when they decided to build a robot for a local VEX Robotics Competition at the California Academy of Math and Science High School (CAMS), on the Cal State Dominguez Hills campus. When the five middle school students from St. Luke, Kevin Kuan and Garrett Stone, 8th grade, and Bryan Kuan, Katelyn Stone, and Jason Salvador, 6th grade started working on their robot, little did they know where this journey was going to take them.
At that first competition, they were elated to come in First Place, receiving the Excellence Award for Top All-Around Team. Having won that competition, they qualified to compete in the VEX Robotics Competition of the Americas which would host competitors from North, South, and Central America, in Omaha, Nebraska, at the beginning of April 2009.
Though the team had plenty of confidence that they had built a unique and competitive robot, they now had to prove it to the rest of the Americas. In Omaha they were completely astonished when they won the final round and captured the distinction of First Place in the Middle School category and the Amaze Award at the VEX Robotics Competition of the Americas. They had done it.
This win qualified them now to compete against the big guys in the VEX Robotic World Competition in Dallas, Texas. They had less than a month to prepare themselves for the adventure of a lifetime. But without the slightest hesitation, they packed their bags and were on their way. On May 1, 2009 they traveled to Dallas where the unbelievable students competed against over 270 teams, of which 250 were high school level teams from China to New Zealand and all over the world.
The St. Luke Elementary School Team won all six of their qualifying rounds placing Second overall in the technology division and ranking First overall the middle schools as they headed into the quarterfinals. They selected two of their mentor teams from CAMS to compete with them as their alliance team members.
The St. Luke Robotic team overwhelmingly won the quarter and semi-final rounds. This rookie middle school team could not believe that they made it this far. Going into the final round they were anxious and ecstatic. They battled it out and captured a remarkable Second Place in the VEX Robotics World Championship Competition.
With their amazing performance, these young scientists indisputably showed the World that the United States will not be left behind, and that they may even hold the key to the future of math, science and technology.
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St. Luke Team Takes Second in World Robotics Competition By Temple City Tribune Published: Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 Kevin Kuan 8th grade , Bryan Kuan 6th grade along with Garrett Stone 8th grade, brother and sister Katelyn Stone 6th grade and Jason Salvador, 6th grade, work on their winning robot at St Luke's last week.
