She's Building a Robot

by Mick Liubinskas

  Ada reached me first and caught me as I fell in strong arms. “Are you ok? What happened to you?”

  “I had an…accident, but I’m ok,” I said. “Just get me to our station.”

  “You need to go to a hospital. You may have serious injuries,” 10 said, helping support my other side.

  A circle formed around me, with everyone talking at the same time.

  “AZ, we need to call an ambulance. You’re hurt,” my dad said.

  “I’ll be ok. We need to start the competition,” I said, hobbling to our station with Ada and 10’s help.

  “AZ, listen to your father, you need to—” my mother said.

  “Everyone, I know you’re trying to look out for me. But this team worked so hard and has come so far, I can wait a few hours for some care, and then I’ll go to the hospital. Honestly, I’m not really badly hurt. But I really badly want to finish this competition. Please just help me get through this.” I pleaded and with a few more sighs of concern, everyone agreed.

  “Let’s go everyone, time to get…to work…” I said over the top of my mother, walking past her and gasping at every second step.

  “I’ve got a first aid kit here, we can patch you up a bit,” 10 said, sensing, and I’m guessing partly hoping, my determination would see us through. “What happened to you? Who did this?”

  Jax burst into the circle, “Disqualified. She’s too late. It was 10:01 by my watch and I’m never late,” Jax yelled at Principal Tajek.

  “Ok, ok, let’s sort this out. Maybe she was late, maybe, yes, maybe,” Principal Tajek started.

  “Ahh, no. Let’s not maybe or ‘ok,’ ” Mrs. D’Silva interjected. “The official clock was still showing 9:59 when the door opened. Do you agree, Mr. Jabari?”

  “Yes, definitely. I was watching it when I heard the sound,” Mr. Jabari said.

  “She wasn’t with her team. Disqualified!” said Jax.

  Li was cleaning dirt off me and 10 was putting bandages on my cuts.

  “She just has to be present in the hall. She’s not disqualified. Now, let’s get this competition going, if you please,” Mrs. D’Silva said, eyeball-to-eyeball with Jax.

  Principal Tajek shrugged and squinted in apology. Jax grumbled his way over to Dalk, where they had a short, animated argument.

  “AZ, you don’t have to do this,” Ada said, hand on my shoulder.

  “I’ll be fine and, yes, I do have to do this. I can tell you all about it after you win this race,” I said, grabbing Ada’s hand, feeling warmth from the hard, sleek surface.

  What happened and what Dalk did was horrendous. But if I stop to deal with it right now, this moment will pass forever.

  My parents and the team slowly made their way back up into the stands and the hall returned to its usual buzz.

  “Wow, what a morning. And the race hasn’t started yet,” Mrs. D’Silva rallied over the speakers. “Robots, to the starting line.”

  The hall had undergone a dramatic transformation since yesterday. It’d been converted into an S-shaped course with a starting line at one end and a finish line at the other. In the middle were the four obstacles, which the robots had to navigate, and then a long sprint to finish.

  “Well, I hope you’re ready. This is definitely the hardest course I’ve ever seen. We’ll be lucky to finish,” 10 said.

  “Technically, I’m the only one that has to finish,” Ada said.

  “Who programmed you to be so cheeky?” 10 asked.

  “That would be me,” Li said, hand raised proudly.

  I almost smiled and checked out the course again. It was more than just hard. The physical section allowed some interaction with the team. They could send messages by voice or keyboard to guide their robot through the obstacles. Ada would still need the physical strength, flexibility, durability, and dexterity to make it through, but it would be a team effort.

  “You’ve got this, Ada. You do. Don’t forget to use race communication style,” I said confidently.

  “Affirmative,” Ada said in a clear, loud voice.

  Ada lifted a foot and gave a triple thumbs-up, spun, and strode over to the starting line along with the other robots. Ukko joined last, shoving others out of the way to make room. A quiet came over the hall.

  This wasn’t the preparation that I planned, but I’m learning that life is often about making the most of your circumstances.

  “Ready…set…go!” called out Mrs. D’Silva.

  The horror of the morning was gone. Replaced by the energy and excitement of this race starting. I watched in awe.

  A cacophony of gears, actuators, and command-yelling teams crashed over the crowd, revving them to life. The robots ran, rolled, and tracked their way to the first obstacle, which was the leaning ladder. It was made of metal, about ten meters long, half a meter off the ground at the start and finished five meters higher. At the end was a bell, which had to be rung before a robot could move on.

  The big challenge was that the ladders were not affixed on either end, so they could spin. Plus, there were only four ladders for eight robots.

  Tiger reached the ladders quickest and used speed, getting about three-quarters of the way along before its momentum swung the ladder over. Instead of letting go, Tiger grabbed hold of the ladder and held on upside down and kept climbing.

  Ukko arrived next, taking swift but measured movements up the second ladder. Ada and Astro Dude arrived and slowly started up the last two ladders.

  Ozone got to the first ladder, with Tiger still climbing on the underside. Ozone almost immediately spun around and fell to the ground.

  Deckard started up Ukko’s ladder, then Ukko gave a big twist and spun the ladder completely around, throwing Deckard to the ground with a loud metallic crunch. There were no safety mats and Deckard hit hard, a shoulder taking most of the force and a leg twisting at angles. Deckard’s team was furiously sending messages and communicating, willing their friend to get up. Deckard made a few crawls forward on one arm and then slumped to the ground. “Wake up, time to die,” said the robot.

  Ukko shuffled forward, reached out, and rang the bell. Dalk’s team cheered loudly, but it was only Jax and his crew in the stands who joined them.

  HAL 45.3 was scurrying up Ada’s ladder. With Ada less than half a meter from the top, HAL 45.3 overbalanced and the ladder spun. Ada grabbed onto the ladder, but Ozone on the floor grabbed onto HAL 45.3, pulling the robot, who eventually let go. The motion sprung the ladder violently and Ada was knocked off. Ada’s torso spun and Ada landed with a crash.

  “Are you ok, Ada?” I asked through my comms earpiece.

  “Yes, I am 96 percent operative, with 95 percent battery life. I need to start again,” Ada replied.

  HAL 45.3 got up and ran back to the same ladder and rang the bell.

  “Ada, go up ladder two, it’s empty,” 10 suggested.

  “Affirmative,” Ada replied and started up the ladder again, this time a little faster, which was risky. But Ukko was already approaching the second obstacle.

  On ladder one Ozone overbalanced, and Tiger was able to move forward and ring the bell. At the bottom of the fourth ladder, after knocking each other off twice, Astro Dude and Sharks With Lasers were both fighting to climb up first.

  Ada then made it to the top and rang the bell. Dropping to the ground and continuing along the track, Ada could see the second obstacle: the water. Anticipating my concerns, Ada said, “I don’t believe any damage I have sustained will affect my submersion.”

  “Good,” I said, trying to sound confident. 10 didn’t seem so sure.

  Obstacle two was a round, plastic pool about two meters in diameter and two meters deep. The walls were an almost-clear plastic blue and at the bottom were eight house bricks. The robots had to dive in, retrieve a brick from the bottom, and get out.

  Ukko arrived first a
nd took a running leap over the side, landing with a neat dive into the water. Tiger followed right behind, running up and over the wall. HAL 45.3 used suction cup-like devices on its arms and legs to scale the wall.

  “Good job on the ladder, Ada, you’re doing great,” I said over the comms channel. “Get your pace up to twenty-five kilometers per hour and you can easily make that lip.”

  “Roger, over.”

  Five meters out from the pool, Ada’s arms lifted into the air and quickly circled back to the ground. Ada started tumbling fast, then, a meter out, sprang up, somersaulted, and dove into the pool. Ada’s team in the stands applauded loudly.

  Next to me I sensed 10 wince. Even the smallest leak could lead to a short-circuit, ending Ada’s race. 10’s computer flashed red as an alarm beeped.

  “Is it bad?” Li asked.

  “Hmmm, noooo. No, it doesn’t look too bad. Technically, it’s a malfunctioning actuator. Ada’s left shoulder won’t have full 360-degree freedom of movement. It should be ok,” 10 said.

  “I am 94 percent operative, with 87 percent battery life,” Ada said.

  I kept focused, and watched Ukko grab a brick from the bottom of the pool. Ukko turned around and kicked up directly toward Ada.

  “Evade,” I yelled.

  Ukko aimed the brick for Ada’s head, but Ada spun away, and it missed by nanometers. Our team slumped back in relief.

  Ukko breached the water as HAL 45.3 poked above the side of the pool wall. Ukko’s brick connected with HAL 45.3’s head and knocked it clean off. It sailed into the air and fell with a flat thunk three meters away.

  The crowd jeered.

  “Is that allowed?” Li asked.

  “You are not allowed to deliberately damage another robot, but if in the course of the race there is physical contact, then it’s survival of the strongest,” 10 replied.

  Ukko climbed out of the pool and past the headless robot, then dropped the house brick next to HAL 45.3’s head and ran off to the next obstacle.

  HAL 45.3’s body let go of the pool edge, dropped to the ground, walked over and picked up its own head. “This is highly irregular,” HAL 45.3 said and ended the race.

  Ada picked up a brick, then noticed Tiger struggling to grasp another one.

  “I want to help Tiger,” Ada said over the comms.

  “Do it,” I said. Li nodded approval and 10 shrugged her shoulders.

  Ada picked up a brick and handed it to Tiger, who was able to hold it with both arms. Together they pushed for the surface. Tiger jumped out quickly and waited for Ada on the ground, and together they ran to the next challenge.

  Obstacle three, set halfway down the middle of the S-shaped course, was about jumping. The robots had to get to the top of a red, hard plastic sphere about a meter across and then leap through a one-meter-wide, five-meter-high metal hoop, that was also set on fire. It was a test of strength, agility, and confidence.

  Ukko was on top of the sphere, slowly rising from bent knees, as Ada and Tiger approached.

  “Ada, do you know why Ukko hasn’t jumped yet?” I asked over the comms.

  “I’m not sure. It appears that the ball is very smooth and slippery. There are no obvious handholds. This may be harder than we thought,” Ada said.

  Three meters out, Tiger ran on all fours and jumped for the ball. Ukko, seeing Tiger’s impending arrival, turned quickly and jumped. Too quickly. One of Ukko’s feet lost traction on the ball and this changed the trajectory of the jump. Ukko tried to adjust in mid-air but it wasn’t enough. The crowd gasped as Ukko’s left shoulder crashed into the flaming ring, sending the robot falling headfirst toward the floor. At the last second, Ukko curled into a ball and rolled over, bringing two strong feet down to land safely on the ground.

  Ukko slowly extended up to full height from a crouch position. At the same time, Tiger landed on top of the ball and, using the momentum, sprung up toward the ring of fire. Ukko looked up to see Tiger sail through the ring, and land safely on the other side.

  “Ada, can you jump like Tiger?” 10 asked.

  “No. Two legs don’t give the same balance points and my center of gravity will be too high,” Ada said, climbing onto the ball and standing up.

  Definition: Center of Gravity—The point at which the entire weight of a body may be considered as concentrated so that if supported at this point the body would remain in equilibrium in any position.

  “Be careful, Ukko is coming back,” I warned.

  “Got it.”

  I stood up to watch as a mess of robots converged on the sphere.

  Ada bent and sprung into the air. Ukko jumped from the ground, reaching out for Ada. Seeing Ukko, Ada’s legs angled back and up. Ukko missed Ada by millimeters, but the change of angle changed the flight path. Ada’s head and body were through the ring when there was a clash of metal on metal. Ada’s right leg slammed into the ring.

  At the same time, Astro Dude was climbing to the top of the ball when Ukko landed directly on it. The crash directly on Astro Dude’s head was a grinding mess. Astro Dude tilted back and crumpled against the ball. Sparks and parts flew. Ukko kicked Astro Dude’s crushed body away.

  “Game over, dude,” Astro Dude said as the limp body slid down the ball and crashed to the floor.

  The shock of the crowd was broken by the crash of Ada hitting the ground. Ada landed sideways, spinning torso taking the force and the body flipping over into a rough rollover. Ada ended up sliding to a stop, fully outstretched, looking up at the ceiling.

  “Noooooo! Ada, are you ok? 10, is Ada ok?” I yelled.

  “I’m checking, definitely some damage,” 10 said.

  Seconds ticked by and Ada lay still.

  “I’m ok, it wasn’t that bad, the roll protected me,” said Ada. “I am 85 percent operative, with 68 percent battery life.”

  Ada had only just stood up when Ukko landed and charged. Ada jumped to the side and just managed to avoid being taken out. Ukko powered on as Ada flipped over and landed safely a few feet away.

  Ada turned back and ran toward obstacle four, dexterity. The contraption looked complex with parts spinning, pushing, and lifting.

  Running up the entryway, Ada looked at the first section. There were five fans about ten centimeters apart with blades spinning slowly, but in alternate directions and at different speeds.

  Ukko went through the fourth blade with a clunk as it caught the black machine’s arm.

  “Ukko has taken a substantial hit. If my calculations are incorrect, I could fail,” Ada said as Ukko went through the last blade unscathed.

  “Technically, just calculate the spin speed and your required speed,” 10 said, but Li’s face looked doubtful.

  “Close your eyes and feel your way through,” Li said, and now 10’s face looked doubtful.

  “Do the math, trust your instincts, you can do it,” I said.

  Ada watched the blades’ hypnotic blur and waited. And waited. And waited. Ukko was already halfway through the next dodging challenge.

  Ada jumped, spun, twisted, and landed safely on the other side without a scratch.

  “Eeeeeee. Yes, I’m squealing. Deal with it,” I yelled, and winced as some of my own body’s pain flooded through me.

  Ukko looked around quickly and moved faster. The next part of the grinder looked even harder. A ten-meter corridor of moving columns, rolling bars, and spinning discs.

  “No math here, these look random. You’ll just have to react,” I said.

  Tiger was near the end of this part of the challenge, but it was clear that the obstacle had taken its toll. The lean, low-rising robot was moving slowly, almost dragging its back-left leg. Tiger tried to get out but was hit by a disc then knocked back by a column. Heavily shaken, the quadruped willed itself back up to standing. If Tiger could get through, there were fifty meters to the finish line
and 25 points waiting. Assuming Ukko kept going to second for 20 points and Ada got third with 15 points, Ada would win the competition.

  “Take your time, just don’t get hurt,” I said.

  “The bars and discs may hurt, but you have to watch those columns,” 10 said. “They will end your race.”

  “Copy that,” said Ada, moving into the maze, dodging a rectangular block that came out from the wall and all the way across to connect with the other side.

  Ukko made it past a tough section that Ada was about to face. There was a large spinning disc taking up the whole corridor in front of two wide columns. There wasn’t much room between them and the double columns almost crushed Ukko’s leg.

  Ada was about to shoot past the big, spinning disk when Tiger lunged forward, bounced off a moving bar and clumsily rolled out of the obstacle and into the clear.

  Ukko looked back at Ada. I looked over at Dalk and saw him yell into his comms piece.

  “It’s a trap!” I yelled, one moment too late.

  Ada leaped past the spinning disc and into the target zone of the two colliding columns. Ukko stepped back and blocked the path to safety.

  The spinning disc came up and now Ada was caught. No way back and, when the columns come out, Ada will be hit. Thanks to super-fast reflexes, Ada instantly pushed against Ukko’s body with all available strength. The contraption whirred, as the two columns emerged from the wall. A vision of Ada completely crushed flashed through my mind and tore at my heart.

  Out of nowhere, Tiger slammed into the back of Ukko’s knees. With Ada pushing Ukko’s chest, the big robot fell backward. Ada scrambled into the free space but was dealt a heavy blow to the left knee. Ada hit the ground and rolled to a sideways kneeling position.

  Tiger lay at Ukko’s feet as the two columns receded into the wall. Ukko pulled back both legs and pushed the beaten-up robot into the target zone. Then, seeing what Ukko was doing, Ada sprung out an arm to grab Tiger’s leg. It was too late. The two columns smashed together with Tiger in the middle, filling the room with the grind of broken metal and a smell of burning electrics. The columns then moved back, leaving Tiger to slowly slip to the ground, a few LEDs blinking, barely moving.