DMS, ACE Robotics compete in TT GEAR contest

Dimmitt Middle School Robotics teams participated in the Texas Tech GEAR contest on March 12, coming out of the competition with several top honors. ACE elementary students also competed at the event.

DMS students were among 118 teams from around the Texas Panhandle to compete. ACE students competed among 116 teams.

The DMS team of Daniel and Enriquel Holquin tied for first place; the team of Jaime Godinez, Baylor Navarro and Josh Seaton tied for first place.

DMS Alianna Castillo and Keenan Hernandez placed third; Azul Hidalgo, Aaron Lara, Zayden Velo and Roman Holgin also competed.

Dimmitt ACE teams competing were Harmonee Moreno and Adryana Rosas who placed/tied for 11th; Caimy Carrasco and Isaiah Flores; Ryder Sanders and John Paz, 11th; and Gabriel Cruz and Roy Anes.

GEAR (Get Excited About Robotics) is a LEGO robotics challenge for elementary and middle school students, during which student teams build and program LEGO robots (using the MINDSTORMS EV3 and NXT kits) to perform specified tasks.

To solve the challenge, students learn engineering skills through a teaming exercise in designing, building, programming, testing, and troubleshooting wheeled LEGO robots. The robots then perform and compete on an 8-by-8-foot field.

GEAR itself (found at www.gearrobotics.org) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) volunteer organization that was created to foster interest among today's youth in engineering, science, and technology. It provides the game rules for the annual competition with instructions on how to build game tables and pieces.

The robots are easily assembled from parts included in the LEGO MINDSTORMS kit, which includes structural elements, wheels, axles, gears, motors, sensors, and a simple microprocessor with rechargeable battery.

Programming is accomplished through an intuitive graphical user interface, patterned after the widely used LabVIEW laboratory instrumentation package from National Instruments. Communication with the microprocessor is done through Bluetooth or a computer's USB port. The challenge is designed around a fictive story that motivates the need for autonomous robots i.e. a robot operating in Antarctica.

Since 2006, the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering at Texas Tech University has hosted a local GEAR hub for the competition in Lubbock. Dr. Tanja Karp from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has organized the competition.

During this period, the competition has grown from a trial run held with Harwell Elementary School in 2006, to a competition with up to 150 participating teams with over 500 students from 35 elementary and middle schools from all over the Texas Panhandle and South Plains. Through the involvement of engineering undergraduate students as mentors, participants are exposed at an early age to the engineering discipline.