NSK Precision America Supports Local High School Robotics Team

(FRANKLIN, IN- Jan 2008) In January, NSK Precision America (NPA) worked with local students who are building a robot to compete in multiple competitions throughout the US. The students visited NPA’s facilities, took a plant tour and spent time learning about linear motion products.

The Center Grove (Greenwood, Indiana) High School “Red Alert” Robotics Team is building a robot, complete with an arm and drive train, to compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Overdrive competition. Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway) founded FIRST in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and Technology in young people. Since being founded, children and young adults from ages 6 to 18 have participated in various competitions and leagues aimed at encouraging a love of science and technology.

In total, over 37,500 high-school students on more than 1,500 teams from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the U.K., and every state in the U.S. are participating in this year’s competition. Working with mentors, the students have six weeks to design, build, and test the robots to meet the season’s engineering challenge. The students then participate in regional competitions that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration, and the determination of the students.

In the 2008 competition, the students’ robots are designed to race around a track knocking down 40" inflated Trackballs, moving them around the track and passing them either over or under a 6'6" overpass.

The Center Grove High School “Red Alert Robotics Team” will participate in two regional competitions, the St. Louis, Missouri Regional from February 28 to March 1 and the Purdue University Boilermaker Regional in West Lafayette, Indiana from March 13 -15. The team includes 32 students and 13 mentors. Some of the mentors are engineers from the community and some are engineers who are parents of students on the team. The group is building a robot with two main components, the drive train and the arm. The drive train is a six wheel base which gives the robot greater traction and maneuverability at speeds up to ten miles per hour. The arm contains a vacuum cup that will be lifted pneumatically. The arm is able to lift and lower the ball and knock the ball off the overpass.

The Red Alert Robotics Team sought NPA’s help to find a linear guide that would provide very low friction for the air cylinder on the arm of the robot. The air cylinder provides power to the mechanism which shoots the ball over the overpass. NPA engineers and the team explored several options before selecting a PE12 linear guide for the application, which NSK donated. The team reported that the NSK linear guide was far superior to the other sliding components they had tried and that its smoothness and low friction would help the robot shoot the ball farther and get it over the overpass more consistently.

In addition to selecting a linear guide, the students observed the process of building ball screws during their tour of the NSK Franklin plant. In NPA’s demo lab, they learned how linear guides and ball screws are assembled together to create linear motion. NPA engineers led the tours throughout the plant and described the activities and tasks they execute in a normal day. According to Linda McCoy, one of the chaperones, “The tour was very beneficial. The students were able to see the type of work that real mechanical engineers do on a daily basis in a manufacturing setting.”

Miles Riley, NPA Engineering Manager, visited the Center Grove High School team’s facility to observe the building of the robot. Miles Riley stated, “NSK Precision America is committed to supporting efforts that benefit our local community. We are pleased to be able to provide the next generation of scientists and engineers at Center Grove High School with linear motion products for the FIRST Robotics competition. The science and technology skills they learn by participating in this program will provide great benefit throughout their lives.”

Kristen Lyons / NSK Precision America