Morris HS’s 2TrainRobotics celebrates 20th anniversary
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BY ALEX MITCHELL
Sometime during the upcoming
2019 MLB season the
New York Yankees will get a
glimpse of what its future talent
pool may look like when a
‘bot’ throws out the game’s fi rst
pitch.
The event will mark Morris
High School robotics team’s
20th anniversary. The celebrated
robotics team has come
a very long way since Windows
98.
First booted up by Morris
High School business teacher
Gary Israel in 1999, it was the
Bronx’ fi rst ever robotics team
and it had a lot to prove.
After winning countless
competitions, earning sponsorships
from the New York Yankees
and Bloomberg, in addition
to landing a workspace at
Columbia University’s school
of Engineering, the Morris
High School team did just that.
Now called 2TrainRobotics,
it’s nothing but business
for the 30-plus student squad
under the tutelage of Columbia
lab manager, Bob Stark as they
begin preparations for the Saturday,
January 5 kickoff to the
season.
It’s then that 2TrainRobot-
Students design 3D components to robot
Schneps Community News Group/ Alex Mitchell
ics along with their competition
will learn the parameters
of what they will be building
and tinkering with over the following
six weeks.
Played out in an indoor
arena about the size of a tennis
court, the competitions usually
entail skill trials for the robots,
rather than having them go on
a destructive rampage.
“It’s not like battle bots
where the objective is to destroy
the other team’s robot,”
said Columbia engineering
student and 2TrainRobotics
mentor Noah Silverstein. “Although
it’s defi nitely a contact
sport,” the mentor added.
Last year’s major competition
involved the robots stacking
up cubes and other similar
tasks.
Being that this year’s big
event takes place at Columbia,
2TrainRobotics has somewhat
of a home fi eld advantage.
Right now in the ‘preseason,’
teammates are practicing
on their 120 pound, 10-foot
tall extending bot, Zoidberg,
named for the eccentric ‘Futurama’
character.
With a top speed of 15 feet
per second, the bot runs on
two stick controls like that of a
dated military tank in addition
to a modifi ed Xbox controller
that handles Zoidberg’s abilities.
While most of those abilities
come from its student-made artifi
cial intelligence that gives it
the ability to pick up objects independently,
the Xbox controller
can extend and contract the
bot’s extensive neck.
It also has it’s own Wi-Fi
network and series of microcameras.
While all of that is comprehensive
enough, building and
running the robot is the easiest
part of being on the team, according
to Silverstein.
“Students have to market
the robot, budget for what it
will cost, promote it through
social media, organize community
events, recruit sponsors
and new teammates, meet
quotas in addition to so much
more,” Silverstein said. “It’s
really like running a business
and the product, in this case
the robot, is only one of many
components,” he added.
At one of those community
events Jarrell Dukes from Coop
City, who has a special interest
in propulsion engineering
and coding, joined the team.
He’s one of many new recruits
from other schools
around the Bronx and the city,
now that 2TrainRobotics has
expanded to allow just about
any city student with an interest
in robotics.
2TrainRobotics members
have a 100% high school graduation
rate. Many return as mentors
to advise the future teams.
The team is now designing
another robot for this upcoming
season, which is scheduled
to be showcased before a Bronx
Bombers game.
Last year’s robot, Zoidberg.
Schneps Community News Group/ Alex
Mitchell