PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Taryn Osborne adjusts an older robot, built in 2012, at Lynn Technical Vocational Institute prior to driving it around the room.
BY DILLON DURST
LYNN — Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.
“STEAMPunk Tigers,” Lynn Vocational Technical Institute’s robotics team, finished sixth out of 25 teams in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition last weekend at Revere High School.
FIRST challenges teams of high school students nationwide to engineer industrial-sized robots that are tested against opponents at regional competitions.
Teams received a kit at a kickoff festival at Northeastern University in January, where they learned the challenge details. The kit is comprised of motors, batteries, control system components and other construction materials. The students have six weeks to build and program their robot.
A new theme is chosen each year. This year’s was “Stronghold.”
During the contest, two alliances of three robots must breach their opponents’ fortifications and capture its tower to win. Points are gained by the robot’s ability to break competitors’ barricades and hurl boulders through goals in towers.
Captain Danielle Davis, a junior at Lynn Classical High School, said her team’s robot was designed to destroy the opposition’s fortress.
She said they were free to design their apparatus however they pleased, as long as FIRST’s rules and regulations were followed.
After the six-week building process, guided by General Electric Co. engineer and team mentor Ethan Heller and various teachers, Davis said the robot had to be placed in a giant bag and zip-tied. They were able to make six hours worth of adjustments between then and their first competition in March at Reading High School.
A typical competition day begins at 5 a.m., Davis said.
After setting up their pits, areas where students fix their robots, and attending several meetings, the first of 80 qualification matches begin.
FIRST volunteers established both teams’ defenses and judge the matches. Teams select their opponents’ defense setup, Davis said.
The mechanisms are controlled by team members from behind a plexiglass wall, and a winner is declared after two minutes and 15 seconds, when points are tallied.
Although their season ended, the Tigers still serve in the community. On Wednesday, the team donated bags of frozen food to No Thanks Needed, a Saugus-based nonprofit that helps terminally ill children.
Davis, who hopes to be an English teacher, said the program is more of a hobby. All Lynn Public Schools students can join the team, regardless of desired career path or interests.
“Anyone can join,” Davis said.
Dillon Durst can be reached at [email protected].