Lakerbots awarded for community involvement, excel in competition

In an accolade years in the making, the Lakerbots FIRST Robotics Competition Team 8046 was recently commended with the prestigious FIRST Impact Award, recognizing contributions to the Meredith community.

Pine Tree District Event

The award — which came at the New England FIRST Pine Tree District Event in Falmouth, Maine, March 6-8 — recognizes the team who best represents a model for others through community impact and promotion of STEM education.

The FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, team also fared well competition-wise. The Lakerbots, of Inter-Lakes Middle High School, were selected as part of the third-seeded alliance, and made it to the semifinals. Danielle Cornelison was recognized as a Leadership Award semifinalist, which highlights leadership, mentorship, and the core values of FIRST.

Receiving the Impact Award also gave the team an automatic entry into the New England District Finals, April 16-18, at The Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

“The Impact Award is what 8046 has really done for Meredith,” said 12th grader Anthony Surace. “We’ve baked pies, done marketplaces, cleaned up trash on the road, and helped out the community.”

The Lakerbots are involved in environmental and community service initiatives, as the team takes care of a 2.1-mile stretch of Route 3 through the Adopt-a-Highway program. Through this, they clean the road four times each year. Team members also volunteer at the Gilford Regional Foam Recycling Center, where they help condense foam for recycling.

The team also created and co-hosts Girls Behind the Glass, which is an off-season event involving all-female teams designed to encourage more opportunities for female students in STEM.

Competition at UNH

The Lakerbots kept the momentum of the Pine Tree District Event by finishing third out of 38 teams at a district competition at the University of New Hampshire.

The team also won the quality award, which “celebrates machine robustness in concept and fabrication.” The Lakerbots are now ranked 17th out of 200 teams in the New England District.

The success of the team is in part due to a practice facility at Tanger Tilton. The Lakerbots and Bob 319, the robotics team from Prospect Mountain High School, rent the space. The indoor practice field is called the Lakes Region Robotics Center.

The Lakerbots were there March 26, adjusting their robot ahead of a competition at UNH.

Surace spoke on behalf of the 20-person team, whose members range from seventh through 12th grade, and have been working for the past six weeks on building what he described as a “complex” robot. This included design work, building, and prototyping.

“We first started out with brainstorming — what are we going to do, how are we going to do this, and what are the points needed for this?” Surace said. “That was Day 1. We all got together and discussed it. Second step was CAD, putting in the design. Our third step, prototyping, is the big, major step.”

Prototyping included wooden models, 3D-printed models, and metal ones to test if the design would actually work. That took just under two weeks; the timeframe depends on the complexity. This robot was particularly complex.

In manual mode, a driver uses a remote to pilot the robot and pick up balls to be launched into a hoop.

The team will pick either the middle, left or right side, and the goal is to drive through a trench. There are hundreds of balls, which they call “fuel,” laying in the field. The goal is to pick up as much fuel as possible, drive the robot back, and launch the balls into a hoop.

The robot also features automatic mode, where it can operate completely autonomously, without guidance from a team member.

Surace said there are several automatic settings, depending on which side they choose. There is also a “climber auto,” for a three-level climb the robot needs to complete in another part of the competition.

“The auto part lasts about 20 seconds, after that it, switches to manual mode, and that is when our driver and shooter take control,” Surace said. “That is when the different roles come in.”

A range of roles

There are a wide range of roles, with some members focusing on the manufacturing, or coding, side, or driving the robot. They can also explore multiple roles.

“Nobody is limited,” Surace said. “It is really the kids that get to do what they want to do. If you really want to get into coding, we will get you the right mentor to get into that. Or engineering. Or software. Whatever it is, we will make sure they have the materials and the needs to be able to excel in that.”

The team was working last week on fixing the turret motors. Members were taking apart the motor, and reconnecting wires to get it ready to be tested on the practice floor.

Surace said the competitions are interesting, because they not only challenge other teams, but there are aspects where they work with “allies,” as well.

There are ranking points in the competitions that determine seeding, based on how well the robot performs.

Surace is involved in computer numerical control and computer aided design. He works on making the parts, and said one of the most challenging was the hood for the robot.

Echo Weil-Cooley and Caleb Theriault were working on improving the energy chain. Weil-Cooley said they encountered some issues that caused cables to disconnect.

Bentley Kaik was also working on the robot, saying the team was improving the robot’s turret and intake.

“Our wheels were slowly starting to degrade, and we wanted it more steady,” Kaik said. “We are also doing some electrical work on the two motors for the turret, and doing the power chain. We’re just trying to improve it.”

The Lakerbots pipeline starts in seventh grade at Inter-Lakes. Surace said seventh graders can start out with the basics to explore what they want to do: business, coding, engineering, design and even spirit.

Kaik is a ninth grader with two years of experience through this pipeline program. He agreed it has allowed him to be in the atmosphere learning, studying things he might not have ever even thought about before.

“I have learned about multiple machines, like the bandsaw, the CNC, the mill,” Kaik said. “These are all things I would never get my hands on normally. Also, it is just the community of FIRST. It’s not like a sport, where it is just one team against another. We’re all working together all the time.”

Surace said he has learned much over his four years in the program.

“I didn’t know what I really wanted to do in the future, but after going through this program, it has taught me so much about STEM," Surace said. "I realized, 'Wow, there is a lot to this.'”

Proud mentor

Lead mentor Joe Derrick said the team was using the Lakes Region Robotics Center for the third year, a hub for New Hampshire teams to come practice. They raise funds and sponsorships from the school district and businesses to rent the space for three months at a discounted rate.

“We’ve had a lot of teams come around from all the state use the facility,” Derrick said, pointing to a team from Kingswood Regional High School, in Wolfeboro, also at the facility testing their robot.

This is the 18th year Derrick has been involved in FIRST, and said this is a great opportunity for students to engage in a meaningful challenge. He said it brings the competitive aspect of a sport together with the academic nature of engineering.

“It’s more than just a robot, we build kids,” Derrick said. “The ability for them to overcome obstacles and to be a part of something that challenges them, where they can see the rewards, is really important.”

Derrick said the best part of being a coach is being able to sit back and support the kids in what they do. He said the Impact Award is a multi-year honor, spanning the last three years of the team.

“All the community visits, sponsors, supporting the younger kids in STEAM activities, it all blends together, so it is really rewarding,” Derrick said.