Woodlands Robotics Team takes home South Texas Championship

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - It can’t bring you coffee (yet), but the robot made by The Woodlands robotics team Bricksmart can pick up small objects, make precise turns, follow a line, throw a ball – and it always comes back to base! <p>

On December 13th, 57 teams from South Texas gathered for the South Texas First Lego League (FLL) Championship, held at the Anthony Aguierre Junior High School in Houston. Each team had about 4 – 8 members, all between 10-13 years of age. These teams were good at what they do – they had all qualified in regional contests, in which only about half the teams made the cut. Most teams were from the Houston area (Houston, Pearland, Katy, Cinco Ranch, The Woodlands etc.) but some were from as far afield as Normangee, TX and even Corpus Christi!<p>

The FLL Championship has the look, feel and excitement of a sports championship. Teams are evaluated on 4 main areas: Research Project, Core Values, Robot Game, and Design. The Research Project is completed by the teams prior to the contest on a topic aligned with a pre-assigned theme. The theme for this year was “World-Class Learning Solutions”. Core Values include Gracious Professionalism, Teamwork and Inspiration and are evaluated during the Championship. The Robot Competition is the most visible, and arguably, the most fun part. It comprises robots completing assigned “missions” around an 8’ X 4’ table that is lined with LEGO objects to maneuver around and into. The robots’ core is a 6” X 4” programmable “brick” to which teams attach wheels, gears, arms and small pneumatic attachments to complete the various missions. Points are awarded for each mission completed, and deducted for each “foul” committed (such as touching the robot when it’s outside base). Teams spend months preparing for these competitions: developing a strategy, designing a robot, tweaking a program hundreds of times, and doing research and interviewing experts for a project.<p>

The five team members go to various schools and live in different parts of the county. Devin McGuyer is a 7th grader at Peet Junior High in Conroe. Kabir Jolly is a 7th grader at the John Cooper School in The Woodlands. Nick Franken is in 8th grade at Sacred Heart School in Conroe. Vali Khan is the youngest team member – he’s a 5th grader from Deretchin Elementary in The Woodlands. Weston Coleman joins the team all the way from Cy Fair, where he is a 7th grader at the Hamilton Middle School. The team members have one thing in common: a love of robotics! They are coached by Katie Kelley of The Woodlands Robotics and the Rubicon Academy.<p>

Preparation for the Championship began in September. Team members started meeting 1 or 2 times a week for 3 hours at a time to plan, divide the work and practice. Coach Kelley was there to guide and facilitate their work. Last year, they had focused more on robot building/engineering and on the research. This year, they needed to focus more on advanced programming and Core Values. The pace picked up in October and early November as they went into the regional qualifier in Huntsville. For the 3rd straight year, they qualified the regionals. The time commitment for the students grew exponentially in November once they learned that they would be going to the Houston championships. The team came even closer together during this period, and learned much more about their team members’ lives outside of robotics. Parents and extended families got to know each other really well. Parents weren’t just chauffeuring the kids around – they were also helping them manage schoolwork, extra-curricular activities, and above all, making sure the kids were still having fun!<p>

The Championships started at 8 am on December 13. The early rounds comprised judging for core values and teamwork. Bricksmart knew they had done well in those areas. But their first robot run in the afternoon did not go well – they couldn’t even complete half of the missions they’d planned. The second one was better, but still not enough to be competitive with other teams. There was one final round remaining. The team took a deep breath and re-entered the pit one last time. It was a good run – by far their best one and much closer to their practice runs! But was it enough? There was no way to tell since the scores had been pulled by the judges by now. There was nothing else to do but wait. And dance, eat some more pizza and then join some 300 other kids and another 300-400 parents and visitors in the gym.<p>

The announcements started around 4 pm. FLL gives awards for many categories, including Robot Design, Gracious Professionalism, Innovation, Research Project and Programming. Bricksmart’s name wasn’t called for any of these. There was only one award left – the Champion’s Award for the overall winner. And that went to team 9064 – Bricksmart! Huge cheers as the team members ran up for the trophy, applauded by over 600 people, hundreds of cameras flashing. In that moment, the FLL community came together to celebrate. One team was holding the trophy, for sure, but every single team had experienced a tremendous journey of learning and discovery that made them all winners.<p>

Bricksmart was told that they would be going to the World FLL Championships in St. Louis, MO in April 2015. So the reward for all that work – as is often the case – was the privilege to do even more hard work.<p>

Bricksmart will be at the SCI://TECH Exposition on January 31st at the Lone Star Convention & Expo Center to demonstrate their robot and their research. They hope to inspire as many students as possible in the Houston area.<p>