Engineer Helps Student Robotics Team Compete, Have Fun

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (3/22/99) Aerospace Corporation engineer Dr. Robert Hosken, who helped students from two Los Angeles area schools build a robot and enter it in competition, likes to focus on the fun in engineering.

"The most important thing," he said, "is that the kids design and build the robot themselves and get to see how much fun engineering is."

Hosken, an engineering specialist in the Graphics and Hardware Technology Department, spent about six weeks working as a volunteer technical advisor to the Beach Cities Robotics team, composed of 10 students from Mira Costa and Redondo Union high schools. They competed against 26 teams in a regional robotics competition at NASA's Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, California, Feb. 25Ð27.

Hosken's team beat the top-seeded competitor in the first match of the finals but went down to defeat in the next two matches. The final day of competition aired on the NASA television channel.

The contingent that traveled to Sunnyvale included the 10 students, Hosken and three other engineers, and two teachers.

The contest was staged to encourage high school students to consider careers in high-technology fields. Hosken said that building the robot required the application of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering methodologies.

The guidelines called for the robots to be battery powered and radio controlled, and to include an onboard microprocessor programmed in Basic. Construction materials included plywood, aluminum tubes and angle stock, and polyvinyl chloride pipe. The weight was restricted to a maximum of 130 pounds.

The annual competition is organized by the nonprofit organization FIRST--For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Last year The Aerospace Corporation supported a team drawn from six local high schools through the ADTECH Consortium.

The Beach Cities Robotics team received support from TRW, Inc., and Los Angeles Air Force Base, as well as from The Aerospace Corporation.