First Lego League: youth robotics championship tournament held Saturday at Penn

Photos by Matthew Albasi and Erica DePascale for Technically Philly.

Hotdog hats, bright white lab coats and Rosie the Riveter costumes set the atmosphere Saturday for the Penn First Lego League Championship Tournament, held in the Irvine auditorium at the University of Pennsylvania Saturday.

FLL, a robotics program designed for kids ages 9 to 14, aims to get young students excited and involved in science and technology. Fifty-two teams from across the tri-state area traveled to University City to participate in FLL’s annual championship tournament after advancing in regional qualifying rounds in December. Like elsewhere in the region, the City of Philadelphia’s School District is grappling with the need for strong STEM education.

This year’s theme was ‘Food Factor Challenge’, where judges evaluated elementary and middle-school teams on three events.

“It’s basically an exhibition of elementary and middle school students to show what they’ve learned in the area of robot design, core vales, project presentation and robot performance,” said Kendrick Davis, the head judge advisor.

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Robotics reaches Philadelphia students at all levels

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

Without raising the alarm of an artificial intelligence-fueled planet takeover, robots are everywhere in Philadelphia.

The Transformers franchise, which has grossed over $1.5 billion to date, is set to release its third installment this summer.  YouTube is inundated with videos of robots doing everything from walking to playing the violin. Honda is set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its humanoid robot Asimo this fall.

Philadelphia is quietly becoming a hub for the continually exploding robotics industry, especially in the robotics research and education fields.

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Olney’s Central High School Robolancers team makes case for STEM

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods Program, the capstone class for the Temple Journalism Department.

The Central High School Robolancers in Olney should be designing a robot for a different task than usual: one that gives out a good pat on the back. The team of robot-building students placed in the quarterfinals of the local-regional For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology robotics competition in Philadelphia, and took first-place overall in the local-regional Boosting Engineering Science and Technology competition.

The Robolancers competed in grueling competitions which required them to put in long hours designing, building and programing their robots. (Photo courtesy of Central High Robolancers)

After winning the BEST regional, the team traveled south to Alabama for the BEST south-regional competition, where they took sixth-place overall. The top eight teams competed in the national BEST competition in Florida, and the Robolancers placed second in video presentation and third in engineering notebook.

The team also competed in the local underwater Marine Advanced Technology Education competition for the first time this year, placing first in presentation but taking second in the overall competition after a blown fuse disabled their robot. They then went on to Texas for the international MATE competition in Houston earlier this month.

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Penn Robotics engineers make robots that learn how to work together

From Mashable:

Those clever programmers at the GRASP (General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania have made these quadrotor helicopters autonomous, teaching them how to work together while building things.

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Local robotics students head for regional competition

Central High School's Robolancers team 321 had six weeks to design their manufacturing robot.

High school students throughout the region are headed this morning for Alabama to compete in a regional robotics championship.

Seven Philly school groups are headed south to compete, including Murrell Dobbins CTE High School, Baldie Middle School, Northeast High School and Central High School, the top four competitors from the city of Brotherly Love.

“We’re increasing the visibility of technical fields and the artificial intelligence world and making sure that our students are developing the skills necessary to work in a team,” says Velda Morris, Robotics Education Specialist for the School District of Philadelphia.

In her role, Morris oversees the district’s secondary robotics initiative, a pre-engineering vehicle for 60 schools, 1,000 students and 84 teachers in the city.

She’s participated with the robotics initiative since 2003, a project that is funded by the district and by various universities in the region. A modest budget, Morris says, pays for equipment and operations.

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Links: Ben Franklin butter statue makes new biofuel, Navy Yard energy project and more

DEFINITE READS

• Mike Armstrong of the Inquirer puts a critical eye to the big-scale, $129 million energy innovation hub planned for the Philadelphia Navy Yard, as led by Penn State.
• The New York Times highlights how an 800-pound Benjamin Franklin butter statue has led to the next great biodiesel fuel craze, with the help of Center City-based BlackGold Biofuels.
• Keystone Edge profiles Center City-based design firm Bresslergroup and Lititz-based Woodstream and their collaboration around improving the mousetrap. Yup.

Below, find what Philly developer was listed as 15 nationally to follow on Twitter, robots at Pennsylvania Hospital and more.

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Links: Penn professors using robotics to fight Alzheimer’s, PHILO launches and More

DEFINITE READS

• The New York Times reports that two University of Pennsylvania professors are challenging Alzheimer’s disease with a new drug-discovery program and a $1.5 million robot.
• Inc. magazine lists Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail of mobile payment service Venmo on their 30 under 30.

MIGHT BE OF INTEREST

• Geekadelphia reports on PHILO, a Philadelphia based startup connecting social media and TV watching.
• The Flightster blog shares something of an essay on Philadelphia still being a city of revolution, focusing on Indy Hall, Nat Mechanics and Old City.

GIVE A GLANCE

• Peter Key at the Philadelphia Business Journal reports that “RoseAnn Rosenthal, the president and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, has been selected by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.”
• On his personal blog, Duck Duck Go founder Gabe Weinberg announces the launching of his duck.co community forum.
• Geekadelphia also gives us the latest on the Walnut Street Apple Store — a sign.

Every Friday morning, we make sure you didn t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

Event Highlights for February 8-14, 2010

Update, 2/8 9:37 a.m.:Refresh Philly will be held at Avencia’s office at 340 N 12th St Suite 402, not the Comcast Center.

Still recovering from that Super Bowl party you went to last night?

Well, get some coffee and shake off that headache. Our event calendar is packed with worthy events and it would be best if you paid attention.

Start your week off right, and head to Callowhill to see the the map-happy geniuses at Avencia talk about their Walkshed project and the company’s entry into the NYC BigApps contest. On Thursday, Hive76 hosts the Philly robotics meetup and cap your week off by taking PhillyCHI up on its offer of design-focused quizzo.

And, if you’re still feeling some withdraw from football, click through for your event highlights. This time with 60 percent more sports references.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

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Friday Q&A: Longin Jan Latecki of Temple University Summer Research Program

Temple University computer science professor Dr. Longin Jan Latecki (center, facing camera) speaking about his research with colleagues and students.

If you ever want a robot to be able to get you coffee, they have to be able to see.

So, really, Dr. Longin Jan Latecki, a computer science professor at Temple University, is doing us all a favor. Latecki, whose research focuses on the half-century-old concept of computer vision, is one of 22 Temple faculty who are participating in the university’s inaugural Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).

The program gives students the chance to earn up to a $4,000 stipend, funded by an equal match between the College of Science and Technology and the researcher’s grant.

Latecki is originally from Poland and is one of two professors working on more than one project for SURP. He came to Temple in November 2001, after stints at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Hamburg, both in the storied German university community.

SURP, which includes faculty from Temple’s CST, the College of Engineering and the School of Medicine, aims to bolster the research chops of Temple undergraduates. More than 270 students applied for the program, and some 150 interviewed with faculty for just 40 available positions during a university event held on March 31.

Below, Latecki, who is also leading a project on the interaction of light with matter, talks to Technically Philly about SURP, his computer vision research and what it takes to get a robot to get me some damn coffee.

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Friday Tech Links: Big Brother in Lancaster, girls still hate tech and More

Lancaster security cameras on the streets are monitored by civilians working for a nonprofit group. They pan, zoom and call police if they see a crime. Linda Johnson / For The L.A. Times

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.

You’re probably being watched in Lancaster.

This city of 54,000 in the middle of a rural county of the same name just may be the most closely scrutinized place in the country, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

As many as 165 closed-circuit TV cameras that will soon bring constant live surveillance of very nearly every street, park and other public space. That would be more outdoor cameras than cities as large as Boston and San Francisco.

Two more things are unique about the camera network, as the L.A. Times story suggests: it was built and maintained by a private nonprofit group and few seem concerned about the privacy implications.

The group, which hires civilians to move and follow the cameras and dispatch police to suspiscious activity, hasn’t found much public outcry.

“Years ago, there’s no way we could do this,” said Lancaster’s police chief Keith Sadler told the Times. “It brings to mind Big Brother, George Orwell and ’1984.’ It’s just funny how Americans have softened on these issues.”

There is some question as to the effectiveness of cameras, though. In what the Times report calls the largest U.S. study, US Berkeley researchers evaluated 71 cameras that San Francisco put in high-crime areas beginning in 2005. In December, they released a report that found “no evidence” of a reduction in violent crime, though it did note “substantial declines” in property crime near the cameras.

Hat Tip Philly Tech News.

After the jump, the continued spat over a state film tax credit, robot-loving high schoolers and eight more of the week’s tech stories you shouldn’t miss, including our best read story of the last seven days.

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