Farmington Robotics Team Competes at FIRST Connecticut Regional Event

Back in January, the Farmington High School FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Team 178, The Second Law Enforcers, was one of over 2,000 teams worldwide that began its 2011 “build season” following the official kickoff broadcast by NASA.

Last weekend the team participated in the long-awaited Northeast Utilities FIRST Connecticut Regional at the CT Convention Center in Hartford.

Each team saw FIRST’s 20th anniversary game, rules and regulations for the first time on January 8 and received an official common parts kit containing motors, sensors, chassis hardware, transmissions, software packages, control systems and batteries.

Teams then had six weeks to build a robot to participate in this year's competitions. Or more like 5 weeks, if, like FHS, you had a build season full of snow days.

The 2011 game called “LOGO MOTION” states that “two alliances of three teams will compete on a 27-by-54-foot field with poles, attempting to earn points by hanging as many triangle, circle and square logo pieces as possible. Bonus points will be earned for each robot that can hang and assemble logo pieces to form the FIRST logo. Robots can also deploy Mini-Bots to climb vertical poles for a chance to earn additional points.”

The team translated that into 'our challenge is to compete in the FIRST Logomotion game with our long-trunked robot, Elephant, and its rapid sidekick, Peanut.' The Peanut minibot was designed and built in collaboration with Team Brix, the Farmington Middle School’s FLL Team.

The 40 members of Team 178, former members, parents and other volunteers, spent every weeknight and Saturdays creating a working robot from the kit and rules at 525 New Britain Ave., a building lent to them by ebm-papst Inc. The team is sponsored by UTC Otis, ebm-papst Inc., UTC Sikorsky, Parker Hannifin, Farmington Public Schools, Gaston J. Frechette, and Fabtron Precision Fabrications.

The regionals can best be described as an enthusiastic celebration of building, teamwork and brainstorming. Members of competing teams were as interested in how other teams interpreted the task as in actually competing against them. Each team has a work area, and the opportunity to share their solutions and challenges was a large part of the event.

Team 178 won only 2 of 10 rounds, having experienced technical difficulties from the start.

Team Captain Sam Cohen, a senior, embodied the FIRST philosophy as he described the weekend. “Everyone, especially the new members, is doing an outstanding job.”

At the regionals, they learned, they admired, they asked questions.

“We lost a lot of skill because so many members graduated last year,” he explained. Passing knowledge and experience along to younger students is a big part of the program as well.

“Our community outreach is extremely good this year,” Cohen added, showing Meet Gizmo, one of two books the team has published to teach young children about gracious professionalism, teamwork. And Dream FIRST.

“We learned a lot and that’s what we came for,” said Charles Forstbauer, FHS Science teacher and team mentor. Following a long career as an engineer, Fostbauer began teaching at FHS five years ago and is clearly enthused about sharing his practical experience in the classroom and the value of FIRST. So much so, he says “FIRST should be a year-round program. It should be a core credit course for all high school students. At the very least a varsity letter. It teaches all areas -  math, engineering, fundraising, problem solving.”

Clearly, everyone who has been part of the FIRST experience has won.