Melissa Russell
Earlier this month, the Belmont-based robotics team won an important competition, qualifying them for the next round of play.
Their robot, Maestro, suffered some damage in the process. So, on a recent school night, the team was hard at work in a rented office space in Belmont, making repairs, tweaking the program, and practicing to ensure everything runs smoothly in the next matchup.
“We’re in a good place now,” said mentor Glenn Wong. “We feel strongly we’ve got a good robot, we just need more practice with it.”
Record Robotics, founded in 2017 by a group of Belmont High School students before becoming a nonprofit organization, has 50-plus members who spend six weeks each year building a 125-pound robot to compete in the international high school FIRST Robotics competition. The competition changes annually, but robots are required to complete tasks under strict rules and tight time limitations. In addition to designing and programming the robot, students must raise the $5,000 entry fee and create a team brand with the guidance of adult mentors.
Belmont competes in the New England district, which has about 215 teams. The top 90 teams advance to the finals in Springfield in April.
While most members are drawn to the club because of their interests in technology, engineering, and robotics, Wong said the club tries to be as inclusive as possible. The marketing team handles fundraising, T-shirt design, and informing the greater community through their newsletter and social media.
“We need people who can do lots of things,” he said. “We have folks interested in programming or who want to be more hands-on mechanically, and that’s great. But we also have a student who is a fantastic graphic artist, and he’s been super helpful in designing our marketing collateral. It’s no surprise some are very technically oriented. But some [have] never touched a power drill before.”
Rising to the Occasion
Competitions are rowdy affairs, complete with mascots and cheering crowds of onlookers waving banners and flags. This year’s musically themed contest is called “Crescendo.” In it, robots are required to pick up foam rings called “notes” and shoot them into receptacles while moving rapidly and blocking other robots. Each round lasts 2.5 minutes. Teams form alliances and play alliance versus alliance. After a day of qualifying matches, the top eight teams go on to the playoffs.
At the competition at Bridgewater State University earlier this month, Record Robotics, with its musically named robot Maestro, was selected to be a member of the top-seeded alliance and went on to win the event. The two-day competition drew 36 teams from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Belmont’s team won with its alliance despite experiencing a wheel malfunction on the first day.
The back-to-back nature of the competition leads to high stress and high energy, said team co-captain Ethan Djajadi, 16, who was singled out as the District Championship Dean’s List semi-finalist.
“It’s very stressing to tail the robot the entire time on the field, drive it, and then bring it back off the field to the pit for repairs,” he said. “It is very nerve-wracking and stressful but also very fun.”
Co-captain Cecilia Zhang, 17, agreed.
“One thing about robotics is that people don’t realize how physically demanding it is,” Zhang said. “During the last competition, we had maybe three mediocre meals and slept five hours combined while running around.”
“I think I got a nice solid eight hours of sleep spread over three days,” echoed co-captain Peter Becker, age 18.
Beyond the thrill of winning, there are the benefits of working with a focus on the FIRST values of “gracious professionalism” and “cooperation,” that is, cooperating while competing. Friendly sportsmanship, respect for the contributions of others and community involvement are central values to the competition, Ethan said. Peter said being part of the team has helped him become more comfortable with social interactions. Cecilia has discovered she enjoys problem-solving and engineering.
“The kids did fantastic,” Wong said. “They really rose to the occasion. It is a super high-stress environment, with things breaking. We had to do a software revision all under competitive pressure, and there is only half an hour or so between each match to make updates. We had a great outcome, and it was super exciting.”
Character building, as well as skill building is one of the greatest benefits of the program, Wong said.
“For the kinds of students we get, who are not typically on sports teams, this is such a valuable experience,” he said. “They get that experience of competing, seeing what it is like when the stakes are high.”
