Three Delphi Teams Make 'Final Four'
29 March 1999
Three Delphi Teams Make 'Final Four' at 1999 FIRST Great Lakes Regional TROY, Mich., March 29 -- Delphi Automotive Systems
, a sponsor of five high school teams in the 1999 FIRST
competition, showed the quality of its participation last weekend by placing
four teams in the Championship Round of the Great Lakes Regional Competition
in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Delphi excelled in a format that requires innovation, flexibility, quick
thinking and teamwork.
In an alliance partnership with two other teams, Delphi's team with
Carman-Ainsworth High School in Flint, Mich. ("The Megatron Oracles"), placed
second in a field of 59 teams. The Carman-Ainsworth High School team made the
finals before losing to an alliance led by Beatty Machines & Manufacturing and
School City of Hammond (Ind.)
Two other Delphi teams with long winning traditions reached the
competition's "Final Four." The "Chief Delphi" team from Pontiac (Mich.)
Central High School was the event's defending champion. "The TechnoKats" team
from Kokomo (Ind.) High School is FIRST's defending National Champions.
The "Delphi Knights," representing Buena Vista High School in Saginaw,
Mich., was the fourth Delphi team to reach the quarterfinals.
Delphi's fifth team, "Team Elite" from Packard, Ohio, finished near the
top third of the field, placing 23rd out of 59 teams in seeding matches held
all day Friday and Saturday morning.
FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
Technology, is an international robotics competition designed to get high
school students as enthused about science, math and technology as an athletic
competition.
The Great Lakes Regional was the eighth and final regional competition,
leading to the 1999 FIRST National Championship competition in Orlando, Fla.,
next month.
Delphi is sponsoring 152 high school students for the '99 FIRST season.
J.T. Battenberg III, Delphi chairman, chief executive officer and
president, said Delphi is proud of its sponsorship of FIRST. "Delphi is
sponsoring five teams in this year's FIRST competition. FIRST fosters the
spirit of innovation. Each of the five Delphi teams designed and built robots
that are uniquely different and reflect the creativity and ingenuity of their
respective teams.
"The world needs textbooks, but there is no better way to introduce
students to the discipline and the art of engineering than the FIRST
competition."
Delphi, with General Motors Corporation, donated $500,000 to help the
not-for-profit organization expand its reach. Battenberg also joined the
FIRST Foundation board of directors last year to help guide the group's
growth.
According to Donald L. Runkle, president of Delphi Energy & Engine
Management Systems and champion of the Delphi Engineering Task Team, FIRST
gives students an opportunity to work hands-on with engineers. And, for some
students it provides an up-close look at engineering and technology that
sparks a new-found career choice.
"Delphi must have an ample supply of engineers and skilled employees to
continue to grow our business," said Runkle, who serves on the Great Lakes
Regional Steering Committee. "FIRST provides a key linkage between schools
and industry that is critical to the success of both groups."
THE GAME
The FIRST game for the 1999 season is played in a 24' x 28' arena,
featuring four teams with their robots. Two teams are paired together in a
win-together, lose-together "alliance" that plays against another alliance.
All four robots are on the field, which is divided in half. The game also
features a five-foot wooden octagonal platform "puck" placed at midfield, and
10 red-colored and 10 blue-colored Velcro-looped "floppies," which are
lightweight and 26 inches in diameter.
During the two-minute match, one alliance works to outscore the other by
positioning the floppies and the puck on the playing field.
The robots are built to capture and raise the floppies above the playing
surface. Alliances get one point for each floppy that is above the playing
field but less than 8 feet above the playing surface and three points for each
floppy at least 8 feet above the playing surface.
Alliances can use the puck to multiply their point totals. If, at the end
of the game, an alliance positions the puck entirely on their opponent's side
of the field, the points double; if the alliance climbs their robot onto the
puck, their points triple.
GREAT LAKES REGIONAL -- SEEDING MATCHES
Fifty-nine teams played six "seeding matches" at the Great Lakes Regional
to earn one of eight quarterfinal spots in the championship round.
Delphi placed two teams in the top ten, including "Chief Delphi" (seventh)
and the "Delphi Knights" (ninth).
As part of the format that emphasizes teamwork and partnership, the top
eight seeds selected two alliance partners to join them in the championship
round. Along with the "Delphi Knights," "The TechnoKats" (40th) and "The
Megatron Oracles" (42nd) were selected by teams in the top eight, despite
their low seeds, due to having advantageous robotic features that made them
attractive partners.
"The TechnoKats" and the "Megatron Oracles" made strong contributions to
their teams' wins during the championship round.
DELPHI'S ALLIANCES IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
For their championship run, "The Megatron Oracles" were allied with Alcoa
Fujikura Ltd./Melvindale (Mich.) High School and 3-Dimensional Services &
Oakland Technical Center, Northeast Campus, in Pontiac, Mich.
"The TechknoKats" were paired with two DaimlerChrysler-sponsored schools,
Southeastern High School of Technology in Warren, Mich., and Western High
School in Russiaville, Ind.
The team earning the No. 1 seed in the tournament, Baxter Healthcare Corp.
and Mountain Home (AR) High School, selected the "Delphi Knights" as a
partner, along with DaimlerChrysler and Avondale (Auburn Hills, Mich.) High
School.
As one of the top eight seeds, "Chief Delphi" selected two partners: GM
Powertrain and Pontiac (Mich.) Northern High School, and PICO/Wisne Design and
University of Detroit Mercy and Berkley (Mich.) High School.
TWO CLEVELAND SCHOOLS WIN DELPHI'S "POWER TO SIMPLIFY(TM)" AWARD
The team known as "The Scarabs," which is composed of two schools from the
Cleveland, Ohio, area, won Delphi's first "Power to Simplify" award.
Judges from the Great Lakes Regional presented the "Power to Simplify"
award to Battelle Memorial Institute and East Technical High School in
Cleveland, Ohio. The schools' corporate sponsors are NASA Lewis Research
Center and TRW, Inc.
The award was presented to the team whose robot has the most elegant and
advantageous features, as determined by the judges.
Delphi Automotive Systems, with headquarters in Troy, Mich., USA, is a
world leader in automotive component and systems technology. Delphi's three
business sectors -- Dynamics & Propulsion, Safety, Thermal & Electrical
Architecture; and Electronics & Mobile Communications -- provide comprehensive
product solutions to complex customer needs. Delphi has more than 200,000
employees and operates 168 wholly owned manufacturing sites, 40 joint ventures
and 27 technical centers in 36 countries. Regional headquarters are located
in Paris, Tokyo and Sao Paulo. Delphi can be found on the Internet at
http://www.delphiauto.com.
