The WW-P FIRST Robotics Team 1923, known as the MidKnight Inventors, is getting ready for competition. This year’s event, “Ultimate Ascent,” is a takeoff of the sport of ultimate Frisbee. “This year’s game is very challenging,” says Abhishektha Boppana, a senior at South and co-captain of the team. “We have only six weeks to design, build, and test a 120 pound robot that can load and fire Frisbees at a number of targets.”
The team is building this year’s robot in a space next to H&R Block in Plainsboro Plaza. “We are open to the public throughout the six week building season,” says Sarah Slemmon, a junior at North and co-captain of the team. “FIRST Robotics actually uses the robot as a really cool tool to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, math, and engineering. By giving build site tours and letting visitors build robots using Legos, we hope to build excitement over STEM education in West Windsor and Plainsboro.”
The robot, Ro-Bart, was named in memory of the late Dr. Bart Kamen of West Windsor. Kamen, who died in September, was a longtime volunteer with FIRST Robotics and served as an adult mentor with the MidKnight Inventors since their inception in 2005. Kamen’s brother, Dean Kamen, is the inventor of the Segway and the founder of FIRST Robotics.
The team includes more than 90 students from high schools North and South. They are assisted by volunteer adult mentors including programmers, scientists, engineers, and business professionals from area companies including SRI International, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
“FIRST Robotics is an exciting, multinational competition that teams professionals from the community and young people together to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way,” says Michael Stevens, a volunteer adult mentor in his eighth year with Team 1923. “Support from the school district, along with donations from local companies, organizations, and individuals make it possible for us to build a competitive robot.”
Open House: The West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and South team kicks off the competition season, “Ultimate Ascent,” with a demonstration of its 120-pound robot to designed to throw Frisbees and climb a tower on Thursday, February 21, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at 10 Schalks Crossing Road in Plainsboro. Student-led tours will focus on animation, programming, STEM education, community outreach, and CAD design. Teams are given six weeks to design, build, and test their robots before each competition. The team’s first regional competition will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 2 and 3, at Hatboro-Horsham High School in Pennsylvania. E-mail marciafleres@gmail.com for information.
Aana Bansal, a junior, and Elisa Vera, a senior, are members of the Sparks FIRST robotics team from Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. They are both residents of West Windsor. The team is headed to the New Jersey FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The team is sponsored by Princeton-based NRG Energy.
The robotics team is part of Stuart’s initiative in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education that promotes opportunities for girls to explore their interests and passions in areas of the STEM fields. On the team, girls each take on different, critical roles, including robot design, construction, and programming, budget management, organization, web design, and video creation.
“It is thrilling that a Fortune 300 corporation such as NRG would recognize and support our school’s work to inspire girls’ interests in the STEM fields from an early age,” said Patty Fagin, head of school at Stuart. “The girls on our robotics team were ecstatic that NRG was willing to help them through this sponsorship.”
Funding from NRG helps to offset costs and supplement the budget for the robotics team. The funds were used to purchase additional parts for the robot, making it more efficient. A portion of the grant will also be used to help pay for the team’s transportation costs for competitions.
Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey’s Green Machine and Dream Green Machine robotics submitted inventions to the FIRST Lego League Global Innovation award competition. Both teams are based in WW-P and are seeking votes. Winning prizes range from $5,000 to $20,000. The deadline for voting is Friday, March 1.
Green Machine team members are Girl Scouts from Village, Grover, Millstone River, and Community Middle schools. They include Elsa Moroney, Himaja Vendidzindi, Isabella Pacheco, Julia Hu, Kennedy Jean-Jacques, Lauren Killackey, Miriam George, Rosina Ananth and Sanjna Ravichandar. The coaches include Karen Sue, Richard Moroney, and Sunil George. The mentors are Hunter Rendleman and Dhivya Shankar. Mentors-in-training include Elizabeth Jean-Jacques and Susan George
Green Machine invented a pill dispenser, safe to use around pets and young children, to keep senior citizens independent. To use the RXEminder, open a compartment, pour in the medicine, and scan the label. An RFID security and alarm system ensures that you will see, hear, or feel the alarm. Vote at fllinnovation.firstlegoleague.org/rxeminder.
Dream Green Machine members are Girl Scouts from Village, Grover Middle, Millstone River, and Community Middle schools. They include Neha Aluwalia, Ruchi Aluwalia, Niyati Bantval, Sriya Bapatla, Sruti Bapatla, Shreya Hegde, Ankitha Jegan, Parul Joshi Prital Joshi, Shambhavi Mishra and Veepra Mishra. The coaches are Charu Jegan and Arun Bantval. Mentors include Hunter Rendleman and Dhivya Shankar. The mentor-in-training is Advaith Bantval.
The newly formed Dream Green Machine invented the EZDrive, an early alert system for senior drivers to be informed about an approaching traffic light. It can be integrated with a GPS device or a mobile device. Vote at fllinovation.firstlegoleague.org/ez-drive.
