Category Archives: Robotics

When it comes to competing against the best of the best of robotics teams around the world, its not only about the robot. Its also about strategy.

The Anacortes High School FIRST Robotics team (aka the Cyborg Ferrets) just returned home from a fourth consecutive trip to the FIRST worlds competition, this time in Houston.

The team of 24 students and 21 mentors had its best-ever showing this year, senior and chief systems engineer Eliot Briefer said. During competition play, about half the team is with the robot. A team of five is actually out on the field. Theres a driver, a coach and a few others performing tasks.

Other team members are out scouting the competition and potential alliances. Different teams have different strengths, so its important to pickv alliances that complement your team, senior Noah Hieb said.

Most of that is just compiling data, junior Katherine Butler said. Scouters watch every match, track other teams and converse with their strategy mentor to see which potential ally might be the best fit.

Each year, the robotics season starts at the beginning of the year. On Jan. 7, a video is released by the FIRST organization, along with rule book detailing that years game.

The game is always different with new challenges to complete, Briefer said. The first task is to build a model of what the game might look like to help team leaders decide what elements the robot might need.

Strategy sessions are followed by build season. The team meets three days a week after school for three hours a day, plus eight-hour sessions every Saturday. Some team members stay in the robotics lab for hours beyond that, Butler said.

We see more of each other than we do our families, so we become like a family here, she said.

Each robot across the world has certain regulations on it, like weight and how much money can be spent on materials.

Six weeks after building starts, each robot must be sealed into a bag until competition begins. At competition, judges ensure that robots have remained in the bag until competition so that each team gets the same amount of time to complete its robot.

Most design work on robots at AHS is done via Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) programs.

Manufacturing is done at the school, using a plasma cutter, 3-D printers and other technology. Some teams send out for pieces to be molded or bent, but Briefer said the Cyborg Ferrets prefer to do the work themselves.

The team also visits district competitions around the state. Teams earn points at each competition, and the top-ranked team becomes the first alliance captain and asks two other teams to join them in the final rounds.

If the second-ranked team has not been asked to be a part of the first alliance, it becomes the next alliance captain and so on.

Each team is awarded points for several factors. In addition to being ranked at each individual competition, each team is ranked in the district.

AHS was ranked first in district points at the end of the preliminary season this year. At the Pacific Northwest District Championship, it took the lead early and was the first alliance captain.

The team was ranked first among 155 teams across Washington, Alaska and Oregon, program manager and junior Elisabeth Jenkins said.

It also had a strong showing at the world competition in Houston.

We did enormously better than last year, Briefer said. And that was enormously better than the year before.

After qualifying matches last year, the Cyborg Ferrets were the last of 32 teams picked to be a part of an alliance.

This year, it was the fourth alliance captain, asking teams from Israel and California to join.

The team made it to the semi-finals.

This years game challenged the teams to place gears, shoot balls into a basket and climb a rope, something the team had never done.

Its all about timing, Briefer said. The coach stands on the floor, keeps an eye on all members of the alliance and on the time. Sometimes, its about deciding whether completing a task in the time remaining is worth the risk.

Other times, its about defense. Blocking an opponent from completing its goal, for example, could result in victory.

Dylan Jimenez has served as the driver for the Anacortes team for two years. He had to pass knowledge tests on the rules and prove he should have that job. He said its a lot of pressure.

You know there are 24 people watching you, he said.

Another part of the competition is public outreach and setting up the pit. In addition to being a place to work on the robot, the space is decorated by the team to showcase to competitors what the team is like.

This AHS team decorated its pit like a Victorian factory to match the games steampunk theme, Jenkins said.

The world competition is in a NFL football stadium, with eight fields of competition all going at once, she said. The games draw a crowd of about 30,000. Teams get to meet kids with similar interests from all over the world.

These are people we would never meet any other way, Briefer said.

While the FIRST robotics at the high school level has been the most successful in terms of world competition appearances, there are other levels of robotics available to students, Jenkins said.

The FIRST Tech challenge is similar to the general robotics team, she said. It is aimed at high school students but features smaller robots.

The FIRST Lego League is open for students ages 9 to 14 years. Each project has a theme and a mission to complete.

The FIRST Lego League Junior is open to kids 6 to 9 years old. The teams create Lego models with moving parts and present to judges about them.

Learn more at team3238.com/home or email anacortesrobotics@gmail.com.

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The robot from Midland High's Team 5509 delivering a gear during competition.

The robot from Midland High's Team 5509 delivering a gear during competition.

Dow High's Team 2619 with the State Consumer's Energy Division championship banner.

Dow High's Team 2619 with the State Consumer's Energy Division championship banner.

Calvary Baptist Academy's Team 6753 drive team and robot.

Calvary Baptist Academy's Team 6753 drive team and robot.

Local robotics teams dominate at state championship

Several local robotics teams soared in the Michigan FIRST Robotics State Championship April 13-15 at Saginaw Valley State University.

Of the 450 FIRST robotics teams in Michigan, 160 qualified to compete at the state level. Among these teams were H. H. Dow Highs Team 2619 The Charge, Midland Highs Team 5509 Like A Boss, Bullock Creek Highs Team 3770 BlitzCreek, Freeland Highs Team 5166 Fabricators, Calvary Baptist Academys Team 6753 RoboKings and Bay City Westerns Team 5603 Rise of the Warrior Bots.

The teams were divided into four different fields of 40 teams, with each being named after the major sponsors of the event: Consumers Energy, Dow Chemical, DTE Energy and Ford.

On the Consumers Energy Field, Calvary Baptist finished ranked 11th out of 40 and was selected for playoffs by Flints Team 1506 Metal Muscle and Brightons Team 4362 Gems, making it to semifinals.

Dow High finished ranked 21st out of 40 and was selected for playoffs by Gladstones Team 4391 Bravebots and Zeelands Team 85 B. O. B. (Built on Brains). Dow Highs alliance went on to win six out of its seven elimination matches to be crowned the Consumers Energy State Division Champions. Dow Highs alliance then moved on to the overall State Championship final field to play the winners of the other three fields, but fell short of the ultimate state title in the semifinals.

In the DTE Energy Division, Bullock Creek finished ranked 2nd out of 40, placing them as the captain of the second seeded alliance. They selected Fremonts Team 1918 NC Gears and Fennvilles Team 5173 Robohawks to join them in the playoffs. Midland High finished ranked 3rd place out of 40, placing them as the captain of the third seeded alliance. They selected Cantons Team 4405 The Atoms Family and Rochesters Team 201 The FEDS to join them in playoffs. Both alliances advanced through the quarterfinals into the semifinals, which pitted the two area teams against each other. In a set of close matches, the Midland High alliance claimed victory, advancing to the finals.

The Midland High alliance won its first match, but its opponents gained a narrow victory in the second match to force a tiebreaker. Due to a last second penalty, the Midland High alliance fell, becoming the DTE Energy Division finalists.

In addition to its playoff performance, Bullock Creek was awarded the Excellence in Engineering award by the judges on the DTE Energy Field. The award celebrates an elegant and advantageous machine feature.

Calvary Baptist was awarded the Rookie Inspiration award by the judges on the Consumers Energy Field. This award celebrates a rookie teams outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering and engineers, both within their school as well as in their community.

The Freeland Fabricators team also competed in the DTE Energy Division, where it received the Pit Safety recognition award. Bay City Westerns team competed in the Ford Division where it won the Team Spirit Award, which celebrates extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership & teamwork.

Dow High student Michael Most was also recognized as a FIRST Deans List finalist, the first Dow High student to ever receive this honor. The Deans List celebrates outstanding student leaders whose passion and effectiveness at attaining FIRST ideals is exemplary. Most will have the opportunity to interview for the FIRST Deans List award at the FIRST Championship along with winners from events all across the world.

Of the local teams that attended the state championship, Dow High, Bullock Creek, Midland High, Calvary Baptist and Freeland qualified to compete at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Its a really big surprise that our rookie team is able to go to Worlds and I hope to have as much fun as I did at States and do my best during the competitions, Aaron Heydenburg, member of Calvary Baptists first-year team, said.

Bullock Creeks team captain & senior drive team member, Connor Stark, added, My favorite part of States was being an Alliance Captain. Im looking forward to showing off our robot and seeing other robots from around the World.

The 2017 FIRST Robotics Competition game is called FIRST Steamworks. In this steampunk-themed competition, two alliances of three robots each prepare to take flight by scoring balls to build steam pressure, gather gears to start rotors and climb rope to board onto the airships at the end of each match.

More information regarding the teams and FIRST can be found at http://www.firstinmichigan.org

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Local robotics teams dominate at state championship - Midland Daily News

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U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn Heights, re-introduced bipartisan legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that will champion the STEM education program FIRST Robotics. H.R. 5168, the Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act of 2017, would mint a $1 coin in honor of Christa McAuliffe, the teacher and astronaut who perished in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and recognize and support FIRST Robotics.

FIRST Robotics is the nations leading not-for-profit Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education program established by inventor Dean Kamen. Once the money is recouped by the U.S. Treasury for the cost of minting the commemorative coin, all of the profits would go to FIRST Robotics. There would be no cost to the taxpayer.

Michigan has the most FIRST Robotics teams in the country. Students on these teams grow up to become inventors, engineers, small business owners, and community leaders, said Upton. A few might even end up as the astronauts whose vision extends beyond our world, to new planets and galaxies just like Christa McAuliffe. It is vitally important that we continue to encourage this type of inventive learning and team building. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this legislation passed.

FIRST Robotics helps students in Michigan reach for the stars whether they want to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, this innovative programs helps young people gain the real-world knowledge and skills to help solve some of our most pressing future challenges, said Dingell. We need to encourage this talent and creativity. This coin provides a pathway to support these efforts while honoring an individual who inspired generations to enter the STEM field. I am proud to work with Rep. Upton and my colleagues to encourage young people to be at the forefront off innovation and technology.

Upton and Dingell are joined by original co-sponsors U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Illinois, and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon.

Upton first introduced the bill last May during the previous Congress.

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Upton legislation to promote FIRST Robotics - HollandSentinel.com

Leland High Schools robotics teamis used to winning, but its high ranking at the FIRST Championship onApril 19-22 in Houston was a first for any San Jose Unified School District campus.

The team, called Team 604 Quixilver, is savoring a successful season just capped off by its first-ever division championship, after having competed many times before in the four-day international contest.

We had a fantastic time this season, said team president Rayne Mehta. When we came into the season, we said, Alright, we want to rank in the top eight at a regional.

Team members exceeded their own expectations with a third-place ranking in both of their regional competitions and fourth overall at the FIRST Championship. For their division win, they beat out about 60 other teams from around the world in numerous timed rounds.

That was fantastic because wed never reached that height before in all of our years as a team, Mehta said.

About 24 students traveled to Houston for the event, arriving there behind their robot Frankensteina mashup of models from previous years that had been shipped out in a crate a couple of weeks earlier. Starting early this year, the students spent six weeks working on their new robot. They met most days after school for a couple of hours, and sometimes spent whole weekends building together. After that period, they were not allowed to make any modifications except for repairs.

Some of the teams leaders didnt think they were smart enough to build a robot. One of them was Hannah Park, who joined the team three years ago and today is its strategy lead and project manager.

My impression of robotics at the time was that only MIT-bound world class math geniuses could do it and that it wasnt accessible to everyone, Park said. I really didnt want to do it for those reasons.

Helen Arrington, a founding member of Team 604 who also used to teach engineering and design, called the teams achievement exciting and exhilarating. She said shes proud of the team not only because it excels in building robots but also because its so inclusive.

Its not all about winning, Arrington said in an interview. I just tell the kids, As long as youre having fun.

The social aspect played a big part in Parks decision to finally join, after being prodded for several months by Mehta and two other friends.

OK, its three people, might as well give it a shot now, she said, adding that she ended up totally throwing all of my energy and time into it.

That time and energy has paid off, but team members arent resting. Aftermaking the rounds at Maker Faire in San Mateo later this month, the teams plans for this summer include conducting demonstrations for sponsors and figuring out a robot design that has been eluding them for years. Failure is a frustrating and expected part of the design process, but Park said the payoff is always worthwhile.

Half of it is going through the prototypes and you see what doesnt work, Park said. When you figure out what does and succeed in competition, it is very, very rewarding to have something that you designed from the start, that was your brainchild, and see it come to life on the field.

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Leland High team aces international robotics contest - The Mercury News

Everyone knows the robots are coming, so we should probably get to work figuring out how we can coexist. Thats the mission of Veo Robotics, which is working on a system that gives robots spatial awareness of every object and obstacle in their reach, from debris to people and everything in between. People and robots working together can accomplish far more than either one on its own.

Fraunhofer researchers created something along these lines, but Veos approach seems more dynamic and responsive, relying not on safe and unsafe zones but doing object recognition and other semantic modeling.

If you build in human interactivity from the beginning, its safer than putting up all the fences and gates in the world,Sobalvarro told me. He compared it to a draft horse on a farm: better that it knows you and where you are at all times than to keep it in the sturdiest pen.

Veos system uses a set of four depth-sensing cameras placed around the work space so as to give complete visual coverage. Once youve established that, you designate various things as work pieces, forbidden areas and so on.

This logic sits lightly on top of the robots ordinary controller; you dont have to redo everything or add the exact dimensions of girders to be carried and safe places for humans to stand. The robot operates as it would otherwise, except now it knows the exact location and size of everything in its field of view. If a human or vehicle intrudes, or a piece breaks, or theres some other deviation from the norm, it can slow or stop.

Critically, if the system is ever not 100 percent sure that its safe for instance, if a camera is obscured or it cant see behind a large piece the robot comes to a full stop.

Sobalvarro previously worked at Rethink Robotics, which created the popular Baxter and Sawyer bots, but felt that it was a better bet to empower existing setups than try to invent new ones. A plug-and-play system like Veos could essentially redefine collaborative robotics to encompass well, pretty much all robotics.

Were robot-agnostic, Sobalvarro said. We respect the investment companies have made. These things are gorgeous, they last a hundred thousand hours and have tolerances of a fraction of a millimeter. We love these machines, and our model is to work with all of them.

If any robot, no matter how big and powerful, can work alongside a human, in many cases thats a better option for a manufacturing workflow.

The company is testing its prototypes in production environments with partners it cant name but Sobalvarro assured me are not small fry. The next step is to upgrade from temporary gear (for instance, using Kinects as the depth sensors) to safety-rated hardware and get all their regulatory ducks in a row. Theyre looking at 2019 for a full deployment, but you can expect to hear more from them well ahead of that.

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Veo Robotics gives industrial robots a sixth sense for safely working around people - TechCrunch

The celebration was on after Team 862 and its three alliance teams embraced a world championship.(Photo: Team 862)

In battle, it's all about who's fighting by your side.

Over the weekend in St. Louis, Mo., Plymouth-Canton's FIRST Lightning Robotics Team 862's foxhole was filled with winners.

Team 862, making its 15th trip to the FIRST Robotics world championships, combined with three other teams in its alliance and captured its first career world championship, topping a field of more than 400 teams.

With Team 862's robot, Valkyrie, running gears like a champand the other three alliances doing what they do best, the four-team alliance Team 862,Team 2767-Stryke Force from Kalamazoo, Team 254-The Cheesy Poofs from San Jose, Calif.,and Team 1676-The Pascack PI-oneers of Montvale, N.J. the alliance was able to capture gold.

The Cheesy Poofs have won the world title before; it was a first for the other three alliance members.

Members of Team 862 from Plymouth-Canton celebrated their subdivision win and a national title.(Photo: Team 862)

"We have one of the best gear running robots ... so we were very good at delivering gears to the Air Ship," said Jay Obsniuk, faculty adviser to the robotics team. "We were fast and dependable. For the end game, we never missed climbing the rope, which was a 50-point score. There were a lot of teams that struggled at this. We were a very dependable robot, doing what we could do 100 percent of the time and veryreliable."

It would have been easy for the team to falter. After all, it had lost in the semifinals in three previous competitions, including the Michigan state competition. Then, at the Michigan state championships, Valkyrie lost its bell pan. Competition rules say teams can't work on their robots except in competition, so Team 862 had to wait until it got to St. Louis to make repairs.

The team missed a practice match Thursday night, then lost four close matches Friday "The robot was fine, but things just didn't go our way," Obsniuk said but managed enough qualifying points to continue. It won four matches (though it lost a replay of one of them) and, with a robot in good shape and showing what it could do, Team 862 was chosen for the finals alliance.

Team leaders agreed being picked by the right alliance was a key.

"I just think altogether we were just a really good robotand we were picked by an amazing alliance," said Canton High School senior Jerry Nicklas, who was part of the team's electrical subgroup. "We had great chemistry. Cheesy Poofs and Stryke Force were really good shootersand we were primarily a gear robot, so that expanded our chances."

With all the trials and adversity, it would have been easy for the students to fold. But a funny thing happened on the way to the title: they bonded.

"You could tell they were frustrated, but with some motivationalspeeches and the fact that they are great kids, they never got down," Obsniuk said. "They tried harder, were even more determined, full of spirit, dancing, cheering and getting to know the over 30,000 other students there, learning from other teams and becoming a very solid team.

"It showed on Saturday, during the subdivision matches. The robot prefor

Lighting Team 862 members Joe Jagadics, Vivian Clements, Tyler Harris, Abby Morningstar and Luke Fenstermacher, with Valkyrie.(Photo: Team 862)

med great and the students even preformed better," he added. "Leading cheers, firing up the drive team and working with the other students on the other teams to help win the matches."

Salem High School senior Josh Markey, a member of the fabrication subgroup, was experiencing the world championship competition for the first time.

He called the frenetic pace the team competed 12 times in two days "amazing."

"The three or four days wentby in a blur ... everyday was fun," Markey said. "It was insane to watch us plan 12 matches in two days. It was awesome."

Not only did the competition yield a world championship for Team 862, but several of its members won individual honors. Obsniuk said seniors won scholarships from schools like Kettering, Michigan Tech, Lawrence Tech and UM-Dearborn, among others. Team president Allison Hurley won scholarships from Kettering and from the Bosch Corp.

"The students never got down, they worked hard on strategy, kept the robot in top condition and talked to the other teams. And they did it on maybe four or five hours of sleep every night," Obsniuk said. "The kids were fantastic."

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Support was high for Lighting Robotics Team 862 from Plymouth-Canton.(Photo: Team 862)

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Score one for the alliance: Plymouth-Canton wins robotics world title - Hometownlife.com

NEW PORT RICHEY For the past two years, the River Ridge High School Royal Robotics team has fought its way to a berth in a prestigious national robotics competition.

That's a pretty impressive feat for a team that's winding up its second season after making it to the semifinals and earning the Creativity Award in the 2017 FIRST Championship in April in Houston.

The 21 members of the Royal Robotics team were among some 1,500 students to compete in Houston. Another championship bout was held later in the month in St. Louis. Winners of the two events will face off at the Festival of Champions in July in Manchester, N.H., where FIRST originated.

FIRST, which stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 as a way build student interest in science, technology, engineering and math and develop leaders through mentor-based programs and competitions for students ages 6 to 18.

Last year, the Royal Robotics landed a spot at the 2016 FIRST Championship after winning the Rookie All Star award at a regional competition at the University of Central Florida in Orlando

This year, the Royal Robotics earned their spot by winning the FIRST Lone Star Regional Competition in early April in Houston.

"The success this team has seen in two years is really remarkable, and they're competing with some really seasoned teams," said Terry Aunchman, director of career and technical education for the Pasco County schools.

"It's amazing. I think we definitely made a statement this year," said River Ridge High engineering teacher Sam McAmis, who mentors the Royal Robotics along with volunteers Tom Allen and Dave Raditch.

Their success is the result of the team's decision to step up the robot's design and alter team strategy, said team co-captain Allysa Allen, 17, noting that Royal Robotics were awarded the Excellence in Engineering Award at regional competition in Alabama as well as the Industrial Design Award at the regional in Houston.

Last year, the team honed a defensive strategy meant to appeal to seasoned teams and to help build alliances with other teams.

It worked, Allen said. "But this year we knew we had limited options. We chose to take on the mind-set of being a leader and winning the game. The planning, the design, the engineering was up there, and that definitely added to our level of success."

"It's a pretty exceptional robot," said Zack Babcock, 17, one of two remote control "drivers" on the team. "We all did our part."

The team had six weeks to build and program a robot before it was "tagged and bagged," with no work allowed until team check-in at the competition.

Bouts unfold with a series of 2-minute, 30-second matches between two opposing alliances of three robotics teams each on a carpeted playing field.

"One thing about FIRST is that you have to be able to work with other teams," Allen said. "Even the best robotics won't win if you can't do that. That's how you win. It's based on teamwork."

In the 2017 competition, teams earned points for their robots' ability to collect large "gears," fire balls into a tall turret and climb a rope.

Team members worked on a secondary "twin" practice robot to make improvements, mostly honing the robot's ball "shooter" for accuracy. The team also co-hosted practice scrimmages with Team 79 Krunch, a FIRST robotics team based out of East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs.

"We average about 30 hours a week," said Allen, who spent the bulk of her time scouting other teams prior to competitions. "It's definitely a commitment not something to be taken lightly."

The commitment paid off.

"I'm very impressed with them," McAmis said. "I think it is a really good way for them to get experience. It offers an opportunity for those who want to spend 20 or 30 hours a week working on an engineering project. They could be home playing video games or going out with their friends, but they are here at school building robots."

Team members raise money as well to help pay for expenses to get to compeitions, Aunchman said, noting that the Pasco Education Foundation matched contributions from AT&T, Southern Manufacturing Technologies, Great Lakes Scale, DeVry Education Group, Universal Labeling Systems, the Foundation for Community Driven Innovation, Affordable Golf Carts, San Francis Veterinarian Hospital, Mike Peters Insurance and Suncoast Credit Union.

While seniors on the team are now done with FIRST, some are taking the next step.

In the fall, Allen will head to Boston to study biological engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Babcock will study mechanical engineering at the University of West Florida. Kevin Hudak and Tim Rimos plan to study computer science and mechanical engineering, respectively, both at Pasco-Hernando State College and then at the University of South Florida.

"This has been a really good experience," Babcock said, adding that his stint on the robotics team helped land an internship last summer at Lockheed Martin in Oldsmar. "Being a senior and this being my last year, it's a really good way to end the season."

Contact Michele Miller at mmiller@tampabay.com. Follow @MicheleMiller52.

River Ridge robotics team shines at national championship 05/02/17 [Last modified: Monday, May 1, 2017 10:32am] Photo reprints | Article reprints

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River Ridge robotics team shines at national championship - Tampabay.com

In honor of Small Business Week, Inc. reporters deployed to several cities where they spent one day talking to owners and entrepreneurs in a particular sector about their challenges.

Robots allow manufacturers to operate more cheaply. But robots themselves aren't cheap, limiting the ability of small manufacturers to compete with larger companies or win back business from overseas. A Baltimore startup thinks it has a solution: robots as a service.

Ready Robot's TaskMate.

CREDIT: Ready Robots via YouTube

Industrial robots typically sell for $75,000 or more, a significant capital outlay. And that price tag escalates dramatically with operational costs. Ready Robotics, a startup housed in City Garage, a Baltimore center for makers, charges $1,500 to $4,000 a month for use of one of its robots, called the TaskMate. The TaskMate is easy to program and move around a factory floor. That suits it for the short production runs on which many small manufacturers survive.

Kelleher Guerin developed the underlying technology for TaskMate while working on his PhD and then as a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University. He built a prototype and partnered with Benjamin Gibbs, a tech transfer official at the university. Their focus was on medical applications until they met Drew Greenblatt, owner of Baltimore-based Marlin Steel, a 30-employee maker of industrial baskets. Greenblatt invited them to tour Marlin's factory floor, where he explained the practical challenges faced by small manufacturers like himself. Soon after, Guerin and Gibbs pivoted toward industry.

Ready Robotics launched in June of last year, with Gibbs as CEO, Guerin as CTO, and Greenblatt as industry adviser.

"When Ford deploys a bunch of robots to make a new car, and it takes a year to set up the factory, they are fine with that because they're going to make that car for 10 years and amortize the effort," says Guerin. "Drew might have a job that takes two weeks. We were thinking, how do you have an industrial robot that helps in that situation?"

Ready Robotics' solution is a robotic arm that can be swiftly programmed to perform new tasks and is packaged with an assortment of grippers, pneumatic air tools, and other peripherals that transform it into a kind of automated Swiss Army knife. The robot, which comes with a stand, can also operate existing tools such as lathes, mills, and band saws, freeing up workers for more valuable assignments. While TaskMate is deployable in most industries, the company's initial focus is on metal forming, food production, plastics, and textiles.

The product is optimized for use by a blue-collar workforce. "We have trained people to do this in under two hours who are complete novices," says Guerin. "No automation experience. No robotics experience. The bar is very low."

Johns Hopkins owns the core technology, which Ready Robotics licenses on an exclusive basis. "We have been filing our own patents on top of that," says Gibbs. "So we have a really robust portfolio protecting the technology."

Ready Robotics, which has 12 employees including Gibbs and Guerin, has raised $3.75 million in a seed round and is embarking on a Series A. That money will allow the company to expand outside the Baltimore market, where it has two customers--one of them Marlin Steel--and proposals out to another three. Guerin estimates that within six months it will have produced and rented 60 units. In a year: double that.

On a recent day, a TaskMate could be found making wire forms for a telecom product near the entrance to Marlin's factory floor. It is the ultimate utility player, explains Greenblatt, switchable within a few hours among most of the 10 or 12 jobs the plant has going at one time. (Greenblatt is a nationally known voice for small manufacturing. Ready Robotics is his first entrepreneurial venture; he acquired Marlin.)

"The real American factory has runs of five and then 300 and then 50 and then 600--peanut runs," says Greenblatt. "You have to be nimble, adaptable, constantly changing over and making new fixtures."

"This is how small companies are going to automate," says Greenblatt. "This is how we will revolutionize American industry."

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This Company Has Created the Swiss Army Knife of Robots - Inc.com

At the FIRST Robotics district event in Marysville, teamwork, ingenuity, problem solving and quick thinking are all necessary things on the game field. Almost as important, though a great outfit. Jeffrey M. Smith | Times Herald

The Plymouth-Canton robotics team, called the Lightning Robotics, takes a group shot after winning the world robotics competition as part of a four-team alliance in St. Louis.(Photo: Plymouth-Canton Lightning Robots)

Nine years ago, Stryke Force was a rookie robotics team. Today, they're world champions.

"We're the youngest team to ever pull this off," said Jerry Culp, an executive at Stryker and a mentor for the Kalamazoo-area team.

A year ago, the Lightning Robotics team from the Plymouth-Canton school district didn't make it to the state or world finals. Today, they, too, are world champions.

The Stryke Force robotics team from the Kalamazoo area poses for a group shot after being part of the four-team alliance that won the world championships in St. Louis April 29.(Photo: Stryke Force team)

"This is like a huge comeback," said Vivian Clements, 17, a junior on the Plymouth-Canton team. "We skyrocketed in growth."

The two Michigan teams were part of a four-team alliance that won the worldFIRST Championship in St. Louis this past weekend. Their alliance included teams from San Jose and Montvale, N.J. The Stryke Force team was the captain of the alliance.

Related:

Oakland teams tops in robotics at Michigan high school competition

"It was just amazing," said Jack Bruinwood, 15, a home-schooled student from Portage and member of the Kalamazoo area team. "It was one of the best feelings to see all of our hard work that we put on through the years and to finally achieve the goal of winning."

It's a first-time world competition win for both of the teams, said Gail Alpert, president of First in Michigan, the state robotics association.

The robot for the Stryke Force robotics team from the Kalamazoo area climbs during the world championships April 29 in St. Louis.(Photo: Stryke Force robotics team)

"The amount of technology that was on these teams and proficiency in engineering was just so inspirational for all to see," Alpert said. "It was really the Olympics of FIRST."

Valkyrie, the robot for the Plymouth-Canton Lighting Robotics team, was key to the team's success as part of a four-team alliance that won the world robotics competition in St. Louis.(Photo: Plymouth-Canton Lightning Robotics)

Meanwhile, another Michigan team the Dragonsfrom Lake Orion High Schoolwas part of the alliance that was afinalist.

The world competition for FIRST For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology brought together 15,000 students and about 400 teams from across the U.S. and more than 30 other countries to St. Louis, Mo.

Their winning teams beat the competition by mastering the playing field, which required the robots guided by students to shoot balls into the boiler of an airship, deliver gears to pilots and climb a rope.

"I'm celebrating what these teams accomplished, but also what they represent that Michigan is the place for emerging talent in science and technology," Roger Curtis, director of the state Department of Talent and Economic Development, said in a news release Monday.

Culp said the road to success includes catching students when they're young.

"Much like you see in football, you don't become a rock star if you didn't play football before that. The same is very true here."

That's true in Bruinwood's case. He's been part of robotics since he was seven years old. Since middle school, he's had a key role in robotics: driving the robot.

"I'm in charge of moving the robot and then I am in charge of placing the gears on the springs and then making the robot shoot," Bruinwood said.

He's gotten good, he says, through practice. Culp said people were proclaiming Bruinwood "the best driver in the world," during the competition.

"When you watch what he's able to make that robot do around that floor, it's amazing."

The Kalamazoo team includes students from schools throughout the Kalamazoo area. Their name is reflects one of their main sponsors Stryker, a medical technology company in the city. Culp is president of the board that oversees all of the robotics teams Stryker helps sponsor. Other key sponsors are Midlink and the Kalamazoo County 4-H.

The Plymouth-Canton team is made up of students from Plymouth High, Salem High and Canton High schools. Their major sponsors are Bosch, Jabil, Leidos, Nissan and Ford.

Joe Jagadics, the lead mentor for the Plymouth-Canton team, chalked up this year's success to a group of students "who were just incredible to work with."

"They were really dedicated and really excited. They knew what they wanted to get done. They knew what they wanted to achieve and they worked to accomplish it."

Clements is still in shock that her team was part of the winning alliance.

"I cried a lot. I was really excited. Our team worked really hard to be better this year than last year. It's so surreal. I still can't believe we won."

Jay Obsniuk, a robotics teacher in the Plymouth-Canton district and the founder of the team, said that while a lot of the focus in robotics is helping students earn scholarships and jobs, winning the world competition "is like icing on the cake."

The Michigan team's win provides strong momentum for 2018, when the state will host the world competition for the first time.Opening and closing ceremonies will take place at Ford Field, while the competition will take place at Cobo Center.

Michigan for years has been a robotics powerhouse, winning more trophies at the world competition than any other state. Michigan also has more teams than any other state, at 450 this year. California is second, with just under 300 teams.

"Michigan has always been a leader in innovation," Gov. Rick Snyder, a big supporter of robotics who helped secure additional state funding that has helped the program grow in the state, said in a statement. "Thanks to the hard work of these students, the dedication of their coaches and the generosity of their sponsors, our state has also become a national leader in FIRST Robotics."

Contact Lori Higgins: 313-222-6651, lhiggins@freepress.com or @LoriAHiggins

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Michigan students, robots win at world robotics competition - Detroit Free Press

Yaskawa Motoman provided facility tours to more than 400 students in the Dayton region, part of help advance the future workforce of industrial automation workers.

The Miamisburg-based company showed students live robotic demonstrations and offered a more in-depth look at possible career opportunities in the industry. A week in April was deemed National Robotics Week back in 2010, with a purpose of building awareness about the importance of robotics to the economy.

Schools, universities and career centers represented include: Brookville Intermediate School, Dayton Early College Academy, Grant Career Center, Horizon Science Academy, Lakota Local School, Ohio Northern University, Project Lead the Way Program, Tolles Career and Technical Center, Troy Christian High School, West Carrollton High School and Wright State University.

Yaskawa Motoman is playing an active role in workforce development by creating career pathways for students in robotics and advanced manufacturing, said Bob Graff, senior sales manager. We are helping to fill the job gap and growing our economy by providing opportunities for schools to participate in co-op programs and internships for students, conducting tours of our facility and supporting regional and events like National Robotics Week.

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Yaskawa shows 400 students robotic demonstrations - Dayton Daily News