Robostangs Qualify for National Championship

A program is getting state and national recognition.

The NHS robotics team achieved a stunning victory earlier this month at the state championship and is ready to make another run at the national championship.

The team, known widely as the , is continuing its tradition of excellence in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) program.

FIRST is a robotics organization created in 1992 by inventor Dean Kamen to interest young people in science and technology. Northville High School has been a part of  FIRST for 10 years. According to the team's website, the Robostangs were created in 2001 by Northville teacher James Conzelman and has accomplished plenty to be proud of, including making six national championships, winning two regional tournaments and receiving 11 FIRST awards.

'More than just building a robot'

But the Robostangs have accomplished plenty more than just winning awards and competitions. The team participates in several outreach programs throughout the year intended to generate interest in the community about science, technology and robotics.

There is a RoboCamp in July, a program for local youths designed to teach fourth through sixth grade students about robotics programs and the basics of robot building. Many Robostangs volunteer at Northville elementary and middle schools to mentor children in Lego robotics.

They have a booth at the Victorian Festival to spread excitement about robotics in the community. The Robostangs have also involved the high school in a program called Pennies for Peace, which raises money to build schools in Afghanistan.

The team's robots progress from machines made from Legos in the younger leagues into building robots from scratch.

“In terms of engineering, students begin with building robots with Lego's in FLL (FIRST Lego League) and progress to using lathes, drills and machining equipment to build their large FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) robots,” said Lenore Lewandowski, mother of Robostangs senior Meredith Monticello. “The computer programming changes from simply arranging command icons to more complex computer code.”

The robotics team may not be the most well-known team at the school, but it is certainly one of the largest. The Robostangs are made up of 74 students, along with 20 adult mentors (mostly parents) and a teacher. The roster is larger than last year's varsity football and varsity boys basketball teams combined.

With such a large roster, the team developed a unique organizational hierarchy, dividing the responsibilities up among the many members. Meredith Monticello and John DeSilva are in charge of the team’s project management.

“FIRST Robotics is more than just (building) a robot,” Monticello said. “Our team prepares students for college and successful careers. With the help of many dedicated mentors, students learn skills that no other high school sport or club can offer. Ranging from mechanics to finance, robotics teams act like a business, and all parts need to coordinate."

Building a robot for competition

Each robotics season begins in January, when a game for that year’s competition is announced. After the game is announced, “there is a six-week build season where the team must build a robot from the ground up, using materials from the supplied kit of parts or machining their own parts,” said Monticello.

She added, “The robot is placed in a bag at the end of the six weeks, where it stays until the week of the team's first district competition. They have six hours during that week where they can take the robot out of the bag and make any necessary changes.”

This year, the game is called “Logo Motion,” in which robots designed by competitors must be able to place inner tubes (shaped like the FIRST logo) onto racks for points. On a field roughly 50 feet long, a competition lasts 135 seconds and the robots must be able to participate autonomously based on preprogrammed codes and sensor inputs, as well as via remote control.

“We spend countless hours designing, CADing, machining, assembling, testing and tweaking our robot in preparation for competition,” Monticello said. “The Robostangs are fortunate to also be able to make an additional practice robot that cannot be used for competition but can be used for practice while the other robot is bagged.”

The Robostangs had to qualify for the Michigan State Championship through several events prior to the event. They won one district event and were a finalist in their second event, yet Monticello felt the team did not perform as well as it could have in the qualification rounds, leaving it in 26th place with a record of six wins and six losses.

In this year’s state championship, held April 7-9, it qualified as an eight seed. After teaming up with schools from Holland and Waterford, the Robostangs’ eighth-seeded alliance achieved a stunning victory over the No. 1 seed.

“We picked up our game in the elimination rounds and were able to upset the first alliance,” said Monticello. The Robostangs advanced to the semifinals, where they lost 2-1 to the fourth seed.

However, their efforts were enough to give them the points needed to qualify for the national championship.

An award-winning team qualifies for nationals

As thrilling as their success at states was, though, it turned out Northville did not even need the points from the tournament to qualify for nationals.

Each year, a robotics team is presented with the Chairman’s Award, “the most prestigious award in FIRST,” said Monticello. The award is for excellence in the community, for spreading the FIRST message, generating interest in science and technology and being a role model for other teams. The winner of the Chairman’s Award automatically qualifies for the national championships, making this Northville team doubly qualified.

“To have actually qualified in two different ways for nationals, based on state ranking and by winning the state Chairman's Award, is an amazing accomplishment for our team,” Monticello said. “We get to represent Michigan, a powerhouse for FIRST Robotics teams. At nationals, you get to compete with teams from all around the world. The energy is so filled with enthusiasm for everything that FIRST stands for.”

The Robostangs will compete in the national championship April 27-30 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. The 349-team competition features teams from 27 different states as well from Canada, Mexico, Israel and Australia.

“One of the most enjoyable parts of going to nationals is meeting kids from all around the country, and the world, who are [equally] excited about our robotics team,” said Lewandowski. “We are particularly looking forward to meeting the Australian team in person. We connected with them last summer and have video conferenced with them - a most thrilling opportunity for our team.”

Though they do not usually qualify in two different ways, the Robostangs have been to nationals for the past three years. Monticello can recall the electric atmosphere of the massive event.

“There's dancing, there's partying, there's team bonding, there's competition, but most of all, there is a place where robotics is the coolest thing,” she said. “Companies and organizations set up at nationals to show off their excitement for robotics, too. Last year, NASA, Boeing and others were there with booths set up.  The finals matches at nationals, where four alliances compete for the world title, is the most high-energy part of the competition. Every single team watches these last matches, filling up one side of a sports dome. Nationals is an amazing experience.”

Love of robotics begins early in Northville

For Meredith, robotics is not just a school activity, but a source of pride, passion and lifelong memories. She joined her first robotics team at School when she was in fourth grade, even though Amerman students are not allowed to compete in events until fifth grade. She was a part of the Lego robotic team. She was on an FLL from fifth until eighth grade with her father, Andrew, who was the team mentor. When she got to high school, she was introduced to “the big robots,” as she says.

“I was a little intimidated at first, but I was ready to move on past so many years of Legos to finally get my hands dirty.”

Her family is still with her high school team, as her brother Andrew is serving as a mentor to the team captain Ryan Wood and to her department of Project Management.

“As a parent, I am so grateful that Meredith had the opportunity to participate in FIRST,” Lewandowski said. “It has given her many technical skills, given her focus and direction during her school career and given her the confidence that she can do anything. I know that she isn’t the only student who has been greatly influenced by FIRST robotics.”

On top of a wealth of memories and experiences, Meredith feels participating in robotics will still have an effect on the next level in her life.

“Robotics has shown me how many great opportunities I can strive toward in college and a career. As a senior this year, I am planning on entering college to study computer science next year thanks to robotics.”

However, that is a while away, and the Robostangs’ next step is to see how far they can go at nationals.

“We have a lot to look forward to at nationals this year,” said Monticello. “It'll be tough, but we hope to go far.”