Island students make good at tech competition
First Tech Challenge (FTC) Team 7538 Octopi, Pine Island had a exciting day, scoring fourth place out of 17 teams on Nov. 23.
“They had a fantastic day,” Coach Leah Tedlie said. “The kids are walking on air.”
The team is composed of: Megan Tedlie, Gerilynn Rossman, Zach Scribner, Michael Schulte, Ari Sturgeon, Amy Sanabria, Cathy Rossman, Katie Rossman and Jenny Lear. Jenny Lear was not present on Saturday. Plus the coaches: Leah Tedlie, Bill Schulte and Gerry Rossman
FTC teams design, build and program their own robots which are used in regional and state competitions. They are required to document their journey in an engineering notebook, as well as participate in community outreach events. Working together with coaches and mentors, students not only discover the world of design and engineering; they also perfect teamwork, critical thinking and presentation skills.
The First Tech Challenge website states that the contest is designed for “students in grades 7-12 to compete head to head, using a sports model. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using a variety of languages. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as well as for community outreach, design, and other real-world accomplishments.”
Students learn to: Design, build, and program robots; Apply real-world math and science concepts; Develop problem-solving, organizational, and team-building skills; Compete and cooperate in alliances and tournaments; Earn a place in the World Championship and Qualify for over $12 million in college scholarships.
“What we do is design, build and program a robot that can perform the tasks of the “Game,” Megan Tedlie said. “What they mean by the “game” is the set of tasks each robot is required to do.”
Each year FTC creates a new challenge for teams, which is revealed at “kickoff” in September. “This year we heard about what the “game” would be around September 7,” Tedlie said. “The “game” defines what challenges each robot is expected to accomplish.” Points are earned for each action performed by the robots.
Two teams at a time place their robots inside a square arena. The “game” started with a 30 second time period where the two robots were expected to drive onto a bridge located in the center of the arena and park on the bridge.
Then the same two teams were challenged during a “driver-controlled period” to retrieve blocks and place them in one of two block zones and/or place them in a pendulum.
The final 30 seconds of the “driver controlled” period is called the “End Game.” In addition to placing the blocks in the scoring areas robots earn points in the End Game by: raising their Alliance Flag up a flagpole, raising themselves off the ground using the bridge pull-up bar, and ending the match with a balanced pendulum.
At the end of the day Team Octopi had “a good point count”, possibly enough to advance to the State Championship. And at the awards ceremony the Team won the only “judged” award given that day it’s called “The Think Award” and is given to the team with the best Engineering Notebook.
The cost for the competition kit and additional materials was $2,094. “This wouldn’t be possible without the Beacon of H.O.P.E.,” Tedlie said. “This year we became a Beacon of HOPE/United Way Community Program. They’ve given us all the support we could possibly hope for as well as the Pine Island Moose, Matlacha Hookers, Kiwanis, American Legion and the Bobby Holloway Memorial Fund. Everyone has been so helpful and the team is very grateful for this opportunity.”