By Marley Seaman
Cooper and his teammates, who live in Uniondale, Merrick, Hicksville and Freeport, used computer programming skills, engineering experience and a combination of metal parts and Legos to construct a small robot that navigated an obstacle course and transported cans of soda. Their team was supported by Hofstra University¹s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and members of the Pre-College Initiative Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (PCIC-NSBE). The National Robotics Design and Presentation competition was held at the NSBE¹s national conference in Pittsburgh in April.
³Morgan is the personification of discipline, dedication and hard work, and I¹m very proud of him,² said Hofstra professor Dr. Michael Ayewoh, the team¹s advisor.
In November 2005, the Hofstra team won a regional competition against teams from the northeastern United States and West Africa. But their robot was never returned to them after the competition, forcing them to spend February and March designing and building a new robot.
Cooper¹s team was also required to make a PowerPoint presentation on the programming and design of their creation, and defend their work against tough questions from judges. Cooper said the team¹s presentation was a great success because each member was able to speak about the robot.
³Everyone had something to say,² he said. ³Some [teams] had one person speaking.² The team¹s coordinated look ‹ they all wore a lab coats and were, in Ayewoh¹s assessment, ³smooth² ‹ also made a good impression.
According to Cooper, the Hofstra team¹s robot outperformed its competitors in the obstacle course due to its size: it was much smaller.
³Each time you see a massive robot, you think you¹re going to lose,² he said. But the team¹s preparations made sure that wasn¹t the case. The larger robots had trouble navigating the rough obstacle course, and in true tortoise-and-the-hare fashion, Hofstra¹s robot succeeded by taking a slow and steady pace.
³The problem with some of the other robots was that they were moving too quickly, so they ended up flipping over,² Cooper said. ³We set it to slow speeds, because if it was pulling the cans, we didn¹t want it to jerk around.²
Cooper¹s teammate, eighth-grader Lawrence Sims of St. Ignatius Loyola School in Hicksville, said that Cooper¹s experience and personality were major assets to the team.
³He¹s a really nice person, he¹s really helpful,² Sims said. ³He can help us when problems come up, arise out of nowhere. ... He¹s more of a listen-type person.²
Tim Young, a Malverne business and computer teacher who has taught Cooper in two classes, praised his attitude, saying he works very hard and isn¹t afraid to ask questions.
³He comes before school sometimes to work on some things,² said Young. ³He¹s a great kid, very respectful. He respects everybody around him.²
Although next year¹s competition is some six months away, Cooper said he is already starting to think about his role with the team. He hopes to take on more of a leadership role, and try some of the computer programming.
³I¹m a little rusty [at it],² he admits.
