Small but Mighty: Robotics Team Makes Top Five
In its second appearance at the annual FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) this March, Upper School’s Optimus Prin team—and robot “Bolts”—placed fourth out of 43 participating teams totaling nearly 1,600 students. Although this placement at the regional rounds was not enough to get them into the next stage of competition, the students came away with a sense of accomplishment and achievement.
Although the FRC is intensely competitive, cooperation and collaboration within and among participating teams or “alliances” are also highly prized. Teams are grouped into alliances with other teams and work together to complete specified tasks within a limited timeframe. But participating alliances “have an opportunity to earn Coopertition® points by coordinating with the other Alliance in the match.” FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) defines Coopertition® as “unqualified kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition” and a willingness to learn, teach, be mentored, and to manage and be managed.
In fact, observes School Principal Travis Brantingham—who was cheering our students from the stands—it’s these very skills that are essential to the growth and eventual success of today’s learners. “The FIRST robotics competition is an outstanding vehicle for our students to test the limits of their teamwork and problem-solving skills,” Brantingham says. “They are learning leadership by figuring out how to partner with other robotics teams and with peers and teachers. They are learning when to be silent and when to speak up.”
This year’s challenge was dubbed “Recycling Rush” and was played in a 26 x 27 ft. playing field. Each match began with a 15-second “autonomous period” in which the robots had to operate independently of their drivers by moving themselves and their recycling containers into a specified area. In the remaining two minutes and 15 seconds of the match—the “teleop period”—the robots were controlled remotely by student drivers located behind walls at the ends of the field. Teams on an alliance (most of whom had not met before) worked together to place and stack recycling totes and containers on scoring platforms and to dispose of litter in a “landfill” zone.
Seven Principia students spent three days in St. Louis University’s Chaifetz Arena setting up their station in the pit area, strategizing with alliance partners, and maneuvering “Bolts” through 14 matches—all “without losing their focus,” says freshman physics teacher and robotics team mentor, Kathy Foy. “Their problem-solving and critical thinking skills were constantly being used at the highest level. An outstanding job was done by all.” Another six students were unable to be at the competition (which occurred in the midst of spring break) but had worked closely with their teammates over a period of six weeks to design and build the robot. Upper School math teacher Sheila Hobson assisted the team, and Foy’s husband, Robert, was the engineering mentor.
Given the small size of Principia’s team—compared to some teams that had dozens of students and numerous adult mentors—Optimus Prin’s showing is all the more noteworthy. The School is eager to support and expand such technology-related learning so that our students may, in Principal Brantingham’s words, “better connect to the world through technology, develop global citizenship, and apply Christian Science to solve challenges that face the world.”