A large contingent of Masonites participated in this year’s game, “Rack ‘n’ Roll,” in which robots were challenged to place inflatable inner tubes on a large octagonal structure.  The competitors were randomly assigned “alliance partners” with whom they would try to coordinate the placement of their tubes.  Teams were awarded points based on how many tubes they could hang in a row on the structure.  Complicating matters was the added challenge that for part of the competition, there was no human involvement; robots relied on sensors to locate and place the tubes.  For the remainder of the challenge, student drivers could use a controller (the GM team innovatively borrowed one from an Xbox 360 system) to direct the robot.  In the last fifteen seconds, teams were asked to lift a robot from another alliance team for bonus points.

Members of the Robotics team move their robot into place for last weekend’s FIRST Robotics competition at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. The team took eighth place out of 58 competitors. (Photo by Fritz Langford)