Redbird Robotics' season of wreckage

Wreck-tangle ruled the region this season. The Allentown High School Redbird Robotics Team's 5- foot-tall robot, admired for its simple design and unique drive system that used a PlayStation controller, won the FIRST (Foundation for the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) New York City Regional Competition and placed in the semifinals at the FIRST New Jersey Regional Competition this season. The winning team also earned the honor of competing at the FIRST championships in Atlanta's Georgia Dome April 16-18.

Members of the Redbirds Robotics Team with their 5-foot robot named Wreck-tangle. FIRST robotics teams are charged at the beginning of each school year with designing robots to perform different challenges. This year's challenge was dubbed "Lunacy" in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. During the competitions, each team joins two other teams to form an alliance that competes against another threesome. This year, the alliances' robots were required to operate on a low-friction field, pick up "orbit balls" and deposit the balls in trailers being towed by the opposing alliances' robots.

Allentown High School's Redbird Robotics Team 1807 recently competed in the FIRST Robotics Championships at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Redbird Robotics, which has 16 active members, created Wreck-tangle, a robot that used a conveyer belt to pick up balls and a rotating-cylinder firing system to insert a high quantity of them into opponents' trailers. The team competed in the Archimedes division, which included 87 teams and finished the regular competition with a 4-3 record.

Fifteen team members traveled to Atlanta, including graduating seniors Pace Nalbone, Zak Moy and Joseph Jonas. Other members include Billy Burrows, Kacper Chudzik, Pat Fallon, Alex Hoover, Niko Kauffman, Zach Knight, Erik Martens, Andrew Newman, Mike Nordin, Joe Pannizzo, Zak Terry and Jonathan Teuchtler.

There were 349 teams at the national competition. Redbird Robotics finished the first day's competition with a 4-1 record because of its strong offensive play.

Team captain Zak Moy, one of the first Allentown High School students to graduate having participated in the Robotics Club all four years, noted that the Allentown team is still fairly new to the FIRST scene, but held its own for a while at the national competition where the best of the best from all over the world clash to dub one the victor.

"The first day we held first place for a while then we dropped down," Moy said. "The competition was tough but a lot of fun. We were basically along for the ride, but we were glad we made it there."

Pace Nalbone, who is the second half of the Redbird Robotics drive team alongside Moy, said he enjoyed this year's competition best out of the four he's been a part of because teams had to play offensively and defensively. Beyond teaching students about applying science and technology and cooperating for a common goal, Nalbone said "there are so many other aspects to the team.

"It's not just about the robot," Moy added.

The graduating seniors encouraged students who enjoy accounting, purchasing, graphic design, public relations and safety to join next year to help continue the team's winning legacy.

Andrew Newman, a junior, testified to the fun students can have even if they're not into the scientific aspect of FIRST. He said he served as the team's safety captain — a sort of superhero who protects FIRST members while outfitted with an array of protective gear such as Band-Aids, goggles, bubble wrap and a fire extinguisher.

Niko Kauffman, a sophomore, said the robotics club is a lot more than he expected, even after having researched FIRST before making the leap last year from private school to public school to join.

"If you have an interest in this type of stuff, this is a great opportunity to learn things you're not able to learn in regular classes," Kauffman said.

This was the team's fourth season and the second time it had traveled to Atlanta. In 2006, the team earned the Rookie All Star award at the New Jersey Regional Competition and subsequently made the trip to Atlanta.

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Blank Sheet Inc, SES Americom, TAH Enterprises, Immordino Dentistry, the Upper Freehold Regional School District Board of Education as well as the families of some team members financially sponsored the team this year. Business teacher Rob Wicks serves as the team's advisor and Ron Auth, Paul Benedict, Ed Dallas, Chris and Teri Nalbone and James Terry served as team mentors.