FIRST robotics competition finale today-Journal and Courier

Rock and roll music, flashing lights and roaring crowd disappears when Ben Carson is controlling the robot.

"Everyone can be your name screaming and shouting, and you don't hear a thing," said the West Lafayette High School sophomore. "You just focus on the robot move."

The bot Carson and junior classmate Henry Williams control is part of the first game of this year--an acronym for "for inspiration and recognition of science and technology." Although it is a national organization dedicated to inspiring in students an appreciation for science and technology, take the events on a laboratory-meets-circus-sphere.

Westside boiler invasion is one of the 42 teams of usually Midwestern schools--including teams from Lafayette Jefferson and Harrison high schools in Tippecanoe County--in the Purdue Boilermaker regional University today. They compete for a chance to go to the national competition in St. Louis next month.

Each team works from a standard set of components to build a robot designed to solve a common problem, which changes every year. Students work side-by-side with teachers, parents, technicians and other professionals.

West side of the robot is built with four Mecanum wheels. That can move left to right without twisting.

It is also programmed with sensors and encoders to control on the playing field within the Purdue Armory.

This year the game is called "LOGO Motion" and robots have to place triangle, circle and square-shaped inner tubes on racks to score points. These three shapes constitute the first logo.

There is a twist to this years game. For the first time, allowed the teams build smaller robots designed to climb a pole at the end of the contest for extra points.

Williams, who controls the robot gripper and arm, said that his team is out today first take place.

"We came in second in 2009, ' 08 and ' 07," he said. "We want to win this year."

But the focus at first is not all about robots. In addition to the technical aspect, each team also builds a website and operates on a community outreach project.

"It's like being thrown in the corporate world," said junior Justin Baer of precision Guessworks, the Lafayette Jeff team. "You learn to take leadership roles, working with different personalities and talk with the community."

As part of their community outreach, Jeff students are collecting money for the Red Cross for victims of the disaster in Japan to help.

Sophomore Megan Huan said the experience has her eyes open for engineering and the skills needed for college. The team Jeff has already invited the national competition.

"It's a blast to be a part of," said Huan, a member of the first year. "If we're going to St. Louis, we're going to show our best efforts."

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