The Lazer Sharkz and their robot Kevin complete Week Zero and head to regional competition

By Melanie Stegner

Reporter

Minnewaska Area Schools added a robotics team for the 23-24 school year and the team is in full swing. There are several nationwide robotics programs, but MSHSL is part of FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. 

According to the FIRST website, it combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. “We call FIRST Robotics Competition the ultimate sport for the mind,” the website mentions.

Students are under strict rules, limited time and resources and are challenged to raise funds, design a team brand, hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial sized robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get states the website. 

The Minnewaska Robotics Team is coached by Paul Molloy and are called the Lazer Sharkz. “We welcome the experience Paul brings to this program. He currently has his own business where he designs and manufactures new video game cartridges for retro gaming systems. He builds robots to assist in manufacturing of the cartridges. He recently contracted to work remotely with defense/aerospace companies to make computer processor chips for national defense space applications and autonomous orbital robotic satellites,” states the news release from MAS. 

Molloy spent his early years in the Navy as a nuclear reactor operator. He earned a degree in nuclear engineering tech from Thomas Edison State College. He has a second bachelor’s degree in electrical computer engineering with a minor in computer science from Oregon State University. 

The MAS Robotics Team includes ten students in middle school and high school. They are currently getting some grants, but are looking for business support, scholarships and/or donations toward electronics or robotics to assist students in the STEM field.

The team attended a scrimmage match last weekend and did well. “The team found and quickly fixed several issues with our bot in the morning and performed quite well in the afternoon with over a dozen matches for the day,” stated Molloy. 

“The robot inspector Mike told us it’s been 15 years since he last saw a rookie team show up with a fully functioning robot at a Week Zero scrimmage event,” he added. 

FIRST Robotics teams need several things for competition, but a standard kit of parts and a common set of rules are issued by the organization. The kit includes a drive base kit, several totes with components, a KitBot and access to software. The KitBot is a case robot that is specific to the year’s theme. The bot is designed to play some aspects of the game, but not all of them. 

This year’s game is called Crescendo. Robots need to be designed to score “notes” (basically a foam ring), amplify their speaker, harmonize onstage and take the spotlight before time runs out. During the first 15 seconds of the competition, the robots are autonomous and must leave the starting zone, score notes in their speaker or amp and collect and score additional notes without guidance from their drivers. In the last 2 minutes and 15 seconds, drivers control the robot. 

Robotics teams and competitions expose students to coding, engineering and real-world problem-solving challenges. Robotics is an inclusive environment embracing students of all skill-levels and abilities. 

FIRST core values are unique to its programs and emphasize friendly sportsmanship, respect for contributions of others, teamwork, learning and community involvement as part of the commitment to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion. 

Two of the FIRST philosophies are Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition. Gracious Professionalism is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasize the value of others and respects individuals and the community. Fierce competition and mutual gain coexist through Gracious Professionalism. According to FIRST, participants compete intensely while treating each other with respect and empathy. 

Coopertition fosters innovation by promoting unqualified kindness and respect in the face of intense competition. It means that teams help and cooperate with each other, even as they compete. They learn from teammates, teaching others, collaborating with mentors, managing and being managed. It embodies the spirit of competing while assisting and enabling others whenever possible.

The MAS Robotics Team will be competing in regional competition in Grand Forks from March 6-9. “We’ll be competing against 50+ teams from Minnesota, North Dakota and Canada,” Molloy said. State competition begins May 4 if the team makes it through regionals. They most recently attended a scrimmage-like competition where they got to take their robot through the course that will be set up for regional competition. 

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