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Teens Turned On By Robotics

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: November 12, 2008

ODESSA - Joel, Aaron, Hunter, B.J. and "Chris-Squared" didn't need a common high school to form a team.

Half of them are home schooled and half attend private Berean Academy in Lutz. Some had not met. But they shared interests that drew them to meet after school and on weekends, researching, experimenting, programming and building.

They formed a robotics team at the end of the summer and spent September working on their robot, which they debuted last month at an exhibition and scrimmage at University of South Florida. They will compete in tournaments through FIRST, an abbreviation for the New Hampshire nonprofit "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology."

FIRST offers different levels for various age groups. Team 2845, dubbed Team Duct Tape, will compete in its tech challenges, the first one of which will take place Saturday at Hillsborough High School. Forty-nine tech teams are registered in Florida.

"It looked like a very interesting and fun challenge," said B.J. Nyman, an 18-year-old home-schooled student from Lutz. "I've always loved tinkering."

Nyman, Joel Croteau, Aaron Coutinho, Hunter Rasmussen, Christopher Waugh and Christopher Willingham make up Team Duct Tape.

They "stick together," according to their flier, and sell T-shirts proclaiming their "infinite possibilities."

"They have an innate enjoyment of computers and robotics and building things," said Terri Willingham, a mother who teaches her son at home and was looking for a way he could participate in robotics.

Most of the robotics options come through large public high schools, which can handle the costs better. A robot kit, which is used all season, can cost up to $900, and competitions are extra.

Willingham helped establish the Odessa-based team. She is president of the nonprofit education resource organization, Learning is for Everyone, that sponsors it.

The team also has received help from a robotics grant for rookie teams as well as the local chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, St. Petersburg machine shop Tampa Technik and a St. Petersburg marketing and graphic design company, R-Design Inc.

FIRST emphasizes learning by doing, Terri Willingham said, and encourages team members to develop mentorships with professionals in related fields. The group took a field trip to Tampa Technik's workshop, where they met the owner and saw how his machines worked.

Participants in the USF convention also got to tour the university's engineering labs, which aligned with some of their career goals. Coutinho, 15, is home schooled, takes supplemental classes at Chamberlain and hopes for a career in mechanical engineering.
Coutinho had been searching for a robotics team and considered joining one in St. Petersburg when he heard about the Odessa group. He knew some of the other boys from competing with them on Lego League teams, geared toward younger children.

Waugh, 16, also had competed in the Lego League and was looking for a more grown-up challenge.

"I got my first robotics set when I was 10 years old," said Waugh, a junior at Berean Academy.

Others had no idea what they were getting into. Croteau, a ninth-grader at Berean, heard about the team through schoolmates Waugh and Rasmussen.

"I've always been interested in robotics," said Croteau, 14. "I figured we were going to be building a battle robot."

FIRST presents teams with a problem they need to solve in a six-week timeframe. Teams buy kits of standard sets of parts and decide how to build the most effective robot for the competition.

Teamwork is the key, said the boys, who range in age from 14 to 18. Besides the programming, the members divided other duties. They turn to Rasmussen, 14, for strategy. Croteau oversaw fundraisers. Nyman applied his understanding of remote-controlled vehicles to robotics.

The two Christophers work side by side on programming - making sure the robot understands commands on a video game controller - earning them the nickname "Chris-Squared."

Everyone worked through the details, such as how to design their robot to be most effective at tasks it has to accomplish in challenges. They had to use physics knowledge to figure out how to get the robot to move or lift things - in this case, hockey pucks.

At competitions, students mill about and check out each other's work, offering tips, asking questions and borrowing materials if needed.

Terri Willingham works behind the scenes to keep the team organized and help with fundraising and networking.

She said she gets a kick out of the environment at the robotics challenges. Music blasts, teams cheer and it takes on the feel of a sporting event.

"It's a really neat atmosphere, and it's celebrating science, technology and math," Willingham said. "The only limit is their imagination."

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503.

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