By Omar Tanamly (March 12, 2004)

After roughly six weeks of intense preparation, the George Mason Robotics Team received the Rookie All Star Trophy at last weekend’s FIRST Robotics Tournament at Virginia Commonwealth University, in their first year of competition.
 

Mason was selected for the award out of six rookie schools, from a total of 62 teams competing overall. The tournament began on March 4th and continued nonstop through March 6th, where schools from across the nation participated in a number of trials using their own, self-constructed robots. Several schools from Fairfax County competed, including Herndon and Langley, although the event attracted schools from as far off as Detroit, where the winning team, The Killer B’s, call home.  The George Mason Team robot, dubbed Gruesome, or ‘Grue for short, competed in six different trials during the three-day tournament. These trials consisted of different exercises. One drill was constructed so balls had to be retrieved by the robot, dished to an awaiting team member who tried to make as many free throws as possible with the incoming balls.

Members of the FIRST Robotics Team pose with their Rookie of the Year trophy, awarded to the best team  competing in the robotics competition for the first  time. With them are co-sponsors Mr. John Ballou  and Mr. David Applegate. (Photo by Rabita Aziz)

Another challenging exercise required a robot to climb steps to a metal bar suspended 10 feet in the air and raise itself off the platform onto it. Each drill was two-minutes long, forcing the participants as well as the robots to be intensely focused. Paired with another participating team, George Mason won two out of the six trials against another combined team of two groups from different areas. Five drills took place on Friday the 5^th, with the final drill on Saturday. The team achieved consistent results with the programming, motors, and communications.

Staff sponsor Mr. John Ballou noted that the team’s robot was able to do all the trials, but it could have been designed better, and hopes that this year’s participation will help prepare the team, hopefully, for a second chance. 

"This year really helped clarify potentially what next year’s robot will do," commented Ballou. He praised the teamwork and ability of this year’s team, particularly the group of programmers who worked on the robot. The mechanics and the complex structure of the robot were extremely impressive, especially for a school as new to the competition as George Mason’s. They attracted the attention of the eight teams of judges, who praised them for "gracious professionalism," illustrated by their esteemed award. As a whole, the team was recognized for being a very professional, cohesive unit to the mix, who even went out of their way to help other struggling teams, some of which had attended the 12-year old contest before.

After three days of nonstop work and weeks of adjustments and preparation, the Mason team seems to be satisfied with its work. "We didn’t go down hoping to win the tournament, we did it to compete, and we did. We won everything we ever wanted even before we went to the tournament," said Ballou.

As a co-sponsor of the team with science teacher Mr. David Applegate, Ballou looked favorably upon the whole experience. It gave, he said, the kids an excellent opportunity to solve some complex problems, in a real-life environment, and it fulfilled all his possible hopes. The team hopes to be able to begin preparation for next year’s competition as early as possible, and encourages all interested to involve themselves as there is plenty to do.