Four of Ben Barrett’s sixth-grade students from Valley Grove Elementary School are “very excited” but also “very nervous” as they prepare to head to Texas on Monday where they will compete against more than 500 teams at the VEX Worlds Robotics Championships.
The students named themselves “Team Ice Cream” because “everyone loves ice cream,” Amelia Polito, the builder for the team’s second robot, said.
Polito’s teammates are Abigail Mawhinney, Payton Phillips and Ella Stokes.
Their first robot, named Sprinkles, started suffering from “Sprinkles Disease” (malfunctioning) because it wasn’t balanced or stable and stopped turning during the state competition in February.
Polito said a team seated next to Team Ice Cream helped them by hooking up their Chromebook to the team’s robot to make it turn.
The team also helped with Team Ice Cream’s tank settings for the controller.
The robot needed to turn a certain way, and Team Ice Cream was unsure how to do that, so the friendly team showed them which way the robot needed to turn.
After the team returned from its trip, the members began building Caramel Drip, their second robot, for the world championship.
When Polito began building the second robot, she knew she had to do something differently.
Polito said she “put the wheels further back” on the robot and “elongated the frame.”
But the process of building and practicing with Caramel Drip hasn’t been smooth sailing.
“We’re constantly tweaking (the robot) and finding ways to make it better,” Polito said as she was fixing the bar on the robot, which will prevent the balls from going too far in and getting stuck.
Barrett said the competition is student-centered.
As the students get closer to Monday, they’re all nervous.
Polito said she is intimidated because there will be people watching them and other teams from all over the world.
“The teacher is only there to guide, troubleshoot and give resources (to the students)” Barrett said.
The students then apply what they learned from those resources to their robot.
As for what encouraged the girls to apply to be a part of the team, their answers varied.
Polito said she really wanted to go to Texas.
Mawhinney, one of the drivers of the robot, said Phillips, who helped build the first and second robots and is the team’s timer, made Mawhinney submit an application to Barrett.
Stokes, the team’s other robot driver, said her mother strongly encouraged her to join the team.
