Igus Aids BEST Teams in Solving the Laundry Quandary

The 14th annual BEST(TM) (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) Robotics Competition wrapped up in Ala. this month. The 2006 season marked the second year for igus® Inc., the leading developer of Energy Chain Systems®, Chainflex® continuous-flex cables and iglide® plastic bearings, as a nation-wide product supplier for the competition. The best of the BEST teams gathered at one of three regional events in Ala., Ark. and Texas to ponder the "Laundry Quandary," this year's game objective, which challenged students to design and build a remotely controlled device capable of placing "wet" and retrieving "dry" laundry from clotheslines within a three-minute time limit. Igus donated various plastic machinery components through its Y.E.S. (Young Engineers Support) Program, designed to foster the mechanical design aspirations of students. The igus kit of parts included Energy Chain® cable carrier, DryLin® linear bearings and guide systems and igubal® spherical bearings, which were distributed to more than 800 BEST teams throughout the country. After the success of its donation in 2005, igus announced it would continue to support BEST Inc., the non-profit organization that not only sponsors BEST Robotics, but also shares a common goal with igus-to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology. "The decision to continue our support of BEST Robotics was easy," said Carsten Blase, vice president of igus. "The sponsorship is beneficial all around. Igus is able to reach a large number of young engineers and professional mentors, BEST is able to offer a more challenging and diverse competition, and most importantly, the students have the opportunity to compete in a competition that encourages their excitement about engineering." The encouragement wasn't lost on the Gearbox Gangsters, a BEST team from Grady High School in Ga. The team started using igus components during its rookie year in 2005. For the 2006 event, the team used a DryLin N linear guide system on a scissor-lift device, which enabled the robot to hang and remove the laundry from the line. Igubal spherical bearings were used at the pivot points of both the main drive wheel and caster wheels because of their durability and low friction. "Our robot won the Most Innovative Design Award," said Gardener Chambliss, a mentor for the Grady Gangsters. "Most of out innovations were based on our unique use of igus products. We owe a big thank you to igus and the Y.E.S. Program for its support." Aside from first, second and third place honors, teams also competed for a number of other awards ranging from Most Elegant Robot to Best Website to the prestigious BEST Award, bestowed on the team who displays the most impressive performance overall in presentation, competition, sportsmanship and teamwork. Also up for grabs was the igus Top Gun Award, renamed in recognition of the company's large contribution and awarded to the team who scores the highest number of points in a single round. Wichita Homeschool, Circle High School and Lebanon High School placed first, second and third, respectively, at the Frontier Trails BEST in Ark, while top honors went to Gunter High School, United Engineering and Technology Magnet and A&M Consolidated High School at Texas BEST. South's BEST, the last regional of the season, was held in Ala. where Priceville High School captured first, Wheeler High School took second and Eastwood Christian Academy placed third. Ambassadors for Christ Academy, Davison High School and St. Anthony's Catholic High School each took home an igus Top Gun Award.