To be courageous. Santillan said he and his robotics team were not the only high school students in that situation. Cristian Arcega: There's always a deeper meaning, especially when it affects you directly and I hope what other people take from this is there's a lot of barriers in this country, especially if you're undocumented or whatever other problems you have individually, but you always have to have hope and you always have to keep trying your best and try to get to your goals, because even if you don't reach them, I haven't become a mechanical engineer yet, but I'm still aiming for that. He wonders what formulas define a vortex. >> The 2004 team showed us it was possible. It's about four undocumented immigrants from Carl Hayden High School who beat out MIT and other universities in an underw. Jos Crdenas: It was an eye opener for you, too. How they went toe-to-toe with the nation's most educated and experienced engineering college students. Cristian had hacked together off-the-shelf joysticks, a motherboard, motors, and an array of onboard finger-sized video cameras, which now sent flickering images to black-and-white monitors on a folding picnic table. A documentary producer, Mary Mazzio, had also wanted to make a film version of the story since hearing about it in 2005. It still unnerved him to see so much water. Now they had 30 minutes total to complete all seven tasks on the checklist. LORENZO Cristian started yelling, and all three ran out to hug Luis, who held the now-filled blue balloon. The guys dropped Lorenzo off in front. Davis' reporting on the Carl Hayden robotics team led to authoring "Spare Parts" and a feature film by the same name. Carl Hayden Community High School doesn't have a swimming pool, so one weekend in May, after about six weeks of work in the classroom, the team took Stinky to a scuba training pool in downtown Phoenix for its baptism. If they do, the act promises financial assistance for college. After those rights lapsed, Mazzio was able to secure a deal to make the documentary. But after we graduated high school, there was a lot of anti-immigration legislation in the state and I lost my scholarship from Prop 300 and I didn't really have anywhere or any set goals because my whole life I had already always been aiming for that goal. His brains and diminutive stature (5'4", 135 pounds) kept him apart at Carl Hayden. Now he was ready to build something of his own. Cristian was from Mexicali, but he'd left Mexico in the back of a station wagon when he was 6. The drivers, Cristian and Oscar, could make the bot hover, spin in place, and angle up or down. The schools robotics club is thriving today, inspiring students to learn about science and technology. Together with his fellow science teacher Fredi Lajvardi, Cameron had put up flyers around the school a few months earlier, offering to sponsor anyone interested in competing in the third annual Marine Advanced Technology Education Center's Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition. [2] He explained that the judges created this spontaneously to honor special achievement. Filmmaker Mary Mazzio hopes her film will challenge audiences to rethink their preconceptions. After Hernandez is introduced, the film starts to focus on the legendary Carl Hayden underwater robotics team, which at this point has been featured in both a documentary and a feature film because it's such a great David vs. Goliath story. At the top sits a black, waterproof briefcase containing a nest of hacked processors, minuscule fans, and LEDs. Now the school is 92 percent Hispanic. And they think of Carl Hayden, they also think of kids who are immigrants to this country. You have these kids who've accomplished so much. He spends his summers driving a recreational vehicle across cooler parts of the country. There were a few students that graduated and they came back and said and they, you know, gave us feedback on what the story had turned into. And it's starring George Lopez is going to play a combination of myself and Dr. Cameron, so the character's going to be called Fredi Cameron and of course, they inserted a female interest in the movie. A feature film based on the story, starring comedian George Lopez, is scheduled for release in January, Filming on "Spare Parts," wrapped up in New Mexico late last year, He was one of three students singled out at his college graduation, receiving applause from the crowd in the stadium and that year's commencement speaker, President Barack Obama, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Once we figure out how to drive it, we'll be the fastest team in the pool.. This year, he left the military and took a job as a foreman in a locomotive repair and maintenance yard at BNSF railroad. But when he called to schedule a recruitment meeting at the end of his junior year, the officer in charge told him he was ineligible for military service. Jos Crdenas: I understand ultimately it's a collaboration between her and Lions Gate. The Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics team made news a few years ago when their underwater robot competed in the university category and won! The out-of-control spread of crowd-control tech, The future of weight loss looks like its past, An inflammatory disease is hiding in plain sight, Rihanna pioneered a new kind of Super Bowl show, Bitcoin miners are playing a risky game of chicken, Explore AI like never before with our new database, Optimize your home life with our Gear teams best picks, from robot vacuums to affordable mattresses to smart speakers, 2023 Cond Nast. (Sound on tape) The group was from Phoenix's Carl Hayden High School. Its only opening was a small, half-inch pipe fitted with a one-way valve. In the lobby outside the review room, Cameron and Ledge waited anxiously for the kids. Being granted the status meant the government would not pursue an immigration case against him. He needs to get all the opportunity he deserves.. IE 11 is not supported. I feel that every time I think about it.". >> Make them go faster. >> They were a rag tag robotics team. They build a robot they nickname Stinky. Even if they did poorly on the interview, they were now positive that they hadn't placed last. Many were Hispanic immigrants, some undocumented and living in the shadows. >> We looked like the carnival had arrived. Turned out that just about a year ago our contract wasn't renewed and we were kind of free agents and we went ahead and signed with her to do the documentary. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. "You did well. The students have created a legacy of success at the west Phoenix high school. The next year, the competition moved to Canada. Hey, the next Einstein could be among us, he could be an undocumented kid, Santillan added. A decade later, the story of the robotics club at Carl Hayden high school is being told anew. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country's reigning robotics champion, MIT. roberto melendez abdiel mireles diego villeneuve christian welch alicia cabrera-mino jaya narain woo jeong byun kirstyn hein thomas moriarty david wise christopher williams . Luis attached Szwankowski's thermometer and quickly lowered the ROV back into the water. Jos Crdenas: Cristian, it's gotten great reviews. Cameron and Ledge haven't taken Lorenzo to Hooters, nor have they retired. . MIT's robot was supposed to land on the container, create a seal, and pump out the fluid. Jos Crdenas: "Underwater Dreams" is a new documentary that follows four undocumented students who entered an underwater robotics competition in 2004. But I kind of looked the other way and put more effort into it.". When they reached the submarine, they saw the drum and tried to steady the robot. MIT had admitted earlier that a laser would have been the most accurate way to measure distance underwater, but they'd concluded that it would have been difficult to implement. And as I understand, there's going to be a shortened version that's going to be shown on television. Jos Crdenas: We're talking about people who came after you. He is able to work because of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the Obama administrations program that offers relief from deportation to young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. To see what they were up to 10 years later, click here. They hope to see all four kids go to college before they quit teaching, which means they're likely to keep working for a long time. They tried a different angle but still couldn't reach the drum. It covers a lot of the history of our team and a lot of stories we were unaware of due to not being personally familiar with the students and also their history and families. Lorenzo Santillan was a former gang member himself looking to stay clean. SPARE PARTS is a movie that's based on the real life adventure of four undocumented Mexican-American teenagers from Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix who start a robotics club. The films are putting the spotlight back on an underdog tale from 2004: How the Carl Hayden students entered the Marine Advanced Technology Education competition on a whim. Although it might not translate into a higher salary or prestigious job, he credits those four with the legacy. 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As I understand it, there's going to be, for lack of a better description, a commercial version of this. Underwater Dreams is a new documentary that follows four undocumented students who entered an underwater robotics competition in 2004 and beat MIT and other colleges. Cameron hadn't expected many students to be interested, particularly not a kid like Lorenzo, who was failing most of his classes and perpetually looked like he was about to fall asleep. Instead, there was a mostly barren parking lot. When Stinky entered the water, it careened wildly as it dived toward the bottom. To his analytical mind, there was no possibility that his teama bunch of ESL studentscould produce a better written report than kids from one of the country's top engineering schools. Esto controls analog circuits with digital output.". All four of the team members could have gained citizenship through the Dream Act, which died in Congress in 2010. By early June, as the contest neared, the team had the hang of it. Now They're Competing on a World Stage. The Center for American Progress and the Partnership for a New American Economy has found that giving legal status to Dreamers will add $329 billion to our economy and . They were born in Mexico but raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where they attended an underfunded public high school. ", Cameron is retired from teaching. Across campus, in a second-floor windowless room, four students huddle around an odd, 3-foot-tall frame constructed of PVC pipe. The actress Selma Hayek was a producer. 16 years later Catch up with the cast of 'The O.C.' to mark 16 years since the beloved teen drama ended Those "just a paycheck" jobs, as he calls them, will help fund his designs for consumer electronics. They expected them to come out shaken, but all four were smilingconvinced that they had answered Swean's questions perfectly. And they would either have to fix the leak or find something absorbent to keep moisture away from the onboard circuitry. A sign reads: Carl Hayden Community High School: The Pride's Inside. Members of the team walked the red carpet in New York for the theatrical premiere of "Underwater Dreams" last week. At 5'10" and 250 pounds, Luis looked like Chief from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Ira Mehlman, the Los Angeles-based media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, successfully lobbied against the legislation last year. Cristian calculated the volume of air inside the pipes and realized immediately that they'd need ballast. : With Younan Nowzaradan, Angela Marie Dunham-Johns, Joe Wexler, Nikki Webster. They run the machine through a series of obstacles, including using a one-way valve to extract fluid from a container, all underwater, all by remote control. Why did you get involved to begin with and tell us about your experiences in the competition. Now Its Paused, A Most Unusual Solution to a Very Serious Problem, Congratulations. The remarkable story of the ragtag, but ultimately world-famous Falcon Robotics Team from Carl Hayden High in Phoenix unfolded in 2004. New! Three are involved in underwater robotics, with one headed to a project in Antarctica. Just getting them to the Santa Barbara contest in June with a robot would be an accomplishment, Cameron thought. By 2 in the morning, Oscar's eyesight was blurring, but he kept at it. Most of the other teams wouldn't even consider putting their power supplies in the water. Arcega is attempting to start his own consumer electronics business. To dream and to fly. It was a short celebration. Jos Crdenas: So Lorenzo, you beat MIT among other universities. Fredi Lajvardi: Well, this movie, which is called "Spare Parts," is being produced by Lions Gate and Pantelion. "Why don't you have a PowerPoint display?" Someone had to be well rested for the contest, so Cristian and Luis slept that night. Cristian was beaming. And Luis Aranda, the . It turns dirt yards into mud and forms reefs of garbage in the streets. >> When we arrived at the competition, I was pretty nervous. "I can't let that get to me," Arcega said, "because that's always going to be an uphill battle with everything.". While these numbers may have improved since DACA was introduced in 2012, undocumented students still face financial and logistical hurdles to accessing higher education (earlier this month, a federal appeals court blocked an executive order by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer that denied drivers licenses to DACA recipients). He attended Arizona State University and studied engineering. You can now save articles. They're shown on the screen. Together, these four teenagers became the underwater robotics team of Carl Hayden Community High School. >> We should empower as many people as we can to build great things. Posted on July 3, 2022 Author July 3, 2022 Author >> The next generation of autonomous vehicles. This was a do-or-die situation. It took a lot of opportunities away. They could send enough power to Stinky's small engines to pull Luis around the pool. We had to sit down and walk on the beach and soak it in for a little bit. And though they've lived in Arizona for an average of 11 years, they would still have to pay out-of-state tuition, which can be as much as three times the in-state cost. Kim played Sun-Hwa Kwon, one-half of the show's central married couple . Students from cities across the countryMiami; New Haven, Connecticut; Galveston, Texas; Long Beach, California; and half a dozen othersmilled around the water's edge. We need to talk a little bit about the movie. I was really surprised by how tough they were about it. So I was like oh, cool we beat MIT. They took their robot and headed west, to a sophisticated underwater robotics competition up against the likes of MIT. Cristian and Lorenzo are now juniors. Spare Parts is a 2015 drama film directed by Sean McNamara and produced by David Alpert, Rick Jacobs, Leslie Kolins Small, George Lopez, and Ben Odell.It is based on the Wired magazine article "La Vida Robot" (Robot Life) by Joshua Davis, about the true story of a group of students from a mainly Latino high school, who won the first place over M.I.T. Fredi Lajvardi: Any time you're in a competition like that, there's unusual things that happen and sometimes, you probably don't choose the best words at the moment, but there's a lot of emotion and time invested and you feel frustrated when things don't go exactly the way you want or if you're shocked with how tough the competition is, but that's part of being in it and learning how to dealing with it and either learning from it so you can do better next time or if you get lucky, you do well and win the first time. Instead, he said he is mostly trying to get by., Lorenzo Santillan is working as a line cook and in catering. mit reunion students. The bling wasn't fooling anyone. Four Mexican high school students form a robotics club. Through the process of building a catapult and then a robot which they present at the 2004 MATE underwater robotics competition, the Carl Hayden team learns that through the power of. He earned a certification in use of the Solidworks design program. He was the tether man, responsible for the pickup and release of what would be a 100-pound robot. From all of us here at "Horizonte" and Eight, I'm Jos Crdenas. They figured their students would lose anyway, and there was more honor in losing to the college kids in the Explorer division than to the high schoolers in Ranger. It's been an inspiring story and I wish you all the best. They step up without the kind of PowerPoint slides other teams have. Oscar felt aimless until he heard about the robot club from Ledge, who was teaching his senior biology seminar. He joined the U.S. Army, fulfilling a childhood dream. Mario Perez/Walt Disney Television via Getty; Craig Sjodin/Walt Disney Television via Getty. A film shows how their legal status limited their futures. Whether they are documented or not, its a waste of human capital to educate these kids and prevent them from contributing to society, she said at a screening of the film in New York City. This was about the third year of the program. "I hope anyone in a similar situation, even if they are undocumented, will keep going and maybe someday they can be anybody they want to be.. Lorenzo painted it garish shades of blue, red, and yellow to designate the functionality of specific pipes. It seemed obvious that this was a condescending pat on the back, as if to say, "A for effort!" He tried to think of a different saint to pray to but couldn't come up with an appropriate one. The overall winner would be determined by combining those results with the engineering interview and a review of each group's technical manual. They live in sheds and rooms without electricity. There was nothing they could dothey had to move on to the next assignment. Since the competition required that their bot run through a series of seven exploration tasksfrom taking depth measurements to locating and retrieving acoustic pingersmobility was key. Winning the competition was a triumph for the students, whose faculty advisor had entered the competition not knowing it was a college-level contest. Now their story is playing out on the big screen. And then I want to talk about the actual events and what it was like to compete against MIT and some of the other major universities in the country. My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now? And don't forget, if you want to watch previous episodes or find out what's coming up on the show just go our website azpbs.org and click on "Horizonte." strengths to the Carl Hayden robotics team. As Stinky floated forward a half inch, its rear raised up and the sampling pipe sank perfectly into the drum. The task was to withdraw 500 milliliters of fluid from the container 12 feet below the surface. >> Oh, my god. One of the things I think that we use, if I could say anything, was, you know, you end up -- you could get deported any time. And they're not alone. and a major motion pictureIn 2004, four Latino teenagers arrived at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "Congratulations, guys," Cameron said. It allows him to see how a kitchen operates and gains him experience with a wide variety of dishes. They were nervous and overcompensated for each other's joystick movements, causing Stinky to veer off course. Carl Hayden High School, he said, was that special team. Cristian Arcega: That's right. If you think about it, you think the kids won't continue because they saw what happened to them. He prayed that the tampons would work but then wondered if the Virgin got her period and whether it was appropriate for him to be praying to her about tampons. When his scholarships and in-state tuition were taken away by the state law barring illegal immigrants from receiving them, Vazquez took on extra jobs. >> MacGyver would be proud. ", "You hear that?" >> Make a difference in my community. MIT's ROV motored smoothly down and quickly located the 5-gallon drum inside the plastic submarine mock-up at the bottom of the pool. Oscar said triumphantly when they hung up. "Anger management class will begin in five minutes," says the voice from the administration building. They live in sheds and rooms without electricity. The course is so difficult, nobody's robot can complete every task successfully. On a lark, their teachers enter them into a sophisticated college marine robotics competition in Santa Barbara. We will talk to one of the coaches and team members in a moment, but first here is a look at "spare parts." Video: No formal teaching experience. "Like a tampon?". >> I want to solve the energy crisis. He had tried thathe'd been a member of WBP 8th Street, a westside gang. And yet, you believed in them all along the way. When Luis lowered Stinky into the water for their run, Lorenzo prayed to the Virgin Mary. A lot of the kids today on the team have participated in helping the special effects for that movie. The whir of Stinky's propellers brought him back to the task at hand, extracting a water sample from a submerged container. Carl Hayden Robotics was never a program until these boys made it a program. >> But the robot was only the beginning. He was proud of his robot, but he could see that it looked like a Geo Metro compared with the Lexuses and BMWs around the pool. pictures of antonia lofaso and heavy d. Menu. Last summer, Cristian's hopes flagged even further when his family was forced to spend $3,000 to replace the decrepit air-conditioning unit in their aluminum trailer. Here's what these former child actors are up to today. The teamLorenzo Santillian, Christian Arcega, Oscar Vazquez and Luis Arrandafrom Arizona's Carl Hayden Community High School had little funding and no experience in similar contests, but . Santillan has a catering business and a job at a restaurant. On three test runs in Boston, the system worked fast and flawlessly. In 2004, four Latino teenagers arrived at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He went over the specifications of the device and then paused. They had to fit their long, quarter-inch-wide sampling tube into a half-inch pipe and then fill the balloon for exactly 20 seconds to get 500 milliliters. "What will you say," he asks, "to an American kid who does not get into a state university and whose family cannot afford a private college because that seat and that subsidy have been given to someone who is in the country illegally?". Stinky now buzzed through the water, dodging all obstacles. What was that like? Over the past four months, Lorenzo had flourished, learning a new set of acronyms and raising his math grade from an F to an A. The team represents what can be done to improve student's success in the area of STEM education in an inner-city school from a large metropolitan city. They re-adjusted their grip on the joysticks and leaned into the monitors. "Here you have kids that can compete and that clearly are innovative, that love to build and to fuel the country forward We need these kids, and they face these impediments.".

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