Mukwonago robotics Team 930 steams ahead to competition – Lake Country Now

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Mukwonago FIRST Robotics Competition Team 930 members (from left) Owen Goodland, Miriam Huerta, and AJ Magestro work on the team's robot on Feb. 13. The competition build season ends Feb. 21 then teams make final preparations for regional competition. Team 930 will compete in the Wisconsin Regional in Milwaukee and the Seven Rivers Regional in LaCrosse.(Photo: Carol Spaeth-Bauer/Now Media Group)

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition

FIRST Robotics CompetitionTeam 930 from Mukwonago is bigger this year than in most years, with about 40 students on the team, but the challenges of designing, building and programming a robot in six weeks are the same.

Work on the competition robot ends on Feb. 21, when the robot is wrapped up and sealed, not to be touched again until the team competes in the Wisconsin Regional from March 22 - 25 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena. After that the team won't have access to the robot until the Seven Rivers Regional in LaCrosse from April 12 - 15.

In their last week, the pace will be fast as team members fine-tune and modify the robot and the code to reach optimal performance. The Charger Robotics mini-regional Feb. 19 will serve as a good testing ground, where the robot and drive team get a taste of how they will perform at regional competition.

Team 930 mentor Greg Billetdeaux said he likes the 2017 FRC challenge, FIRST Steamworks, where teams get to shoot an infinite number of balls, as many as robots can carry, especially during the autonomous portion of the game.

FIRST Steamworks is a game based on an "era where steam power reigns," where "two adventurers' clubs" are challenged to "prepare their airships for a long distance race," according to the game overview on firstinspires.org.

In the game, two alliances made up of three robotics teams each build steam pressure by collecting fuel (balls), start rotors by delivering gears to their pilots, and prepare for flight by hanging onto the "airship" before takeoff, according to the game overview on the FIRST website. Points are scored during the 15-second autonomous period when the robot operates only on pre-programmed instructions. Student drivers take over for the remaining two minutes and 15 seconds of the game, working with teams on the alliance to collect as many points as possible before the end of the match.

Team 930 started out filling gaps created after a number of seniors graduated from the team.

"I think so far the new kids have filled those roles pretty well," Billetdeaux said.

As he talked, students were fine-tuning the shooter, trying to gain accuracy to collect as many points as possible during the autonomous mode.

Directing much of that work as the project managerwas Mukwonago High School junior Miriam Huerta who joined the team as a freshman. Usually Huerta was in the trenches designing or building the robot, but as project manager, she found herself doing less of that type of work.

"My biggest role is to integrate to make sure we are all on the same page, basically me talking to every single person on the team to see how we're doing, where we're going," said Huerta.

Huerta likes to foster that feeling of teamwork, one of the first core values she learned in FIRST when joining FIRST Lego League (FLL) in elementary school.

"I definitely like to have a team that feels comfortable with each other, with their work, and as people in general," Huerta added.

When Huerta was in seventh grade at Park View Middle School, the school started a roboticsprogram using the VEX programing language as part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum, which fueled her interest in robotics.

Aside from being a "really cool experience," robotics taught Huerta how to be assertive. She went from a shy, quiet FLL participant where other kids talked during presentations, to being one of the main speakers for Team 930. She gained confidence and learned leadership skills.

"This experience has helped me foster a leadership position and to see the benefits of trying to provide everyone with that support so that they too can feel like they have some power and position in the team," Huerta explained. "That can make a difference."

She likes being able to work on a team to accomplish a common goal, working with peers on something that is bigger than everyone involved.

Jacob Henrichs, a senior at Mukwonago High School, also learned leadership skills during his years on the team. As a freshman he learned how to design in computer-assisted designand how to make things. As the mechanical lead this year, he directs and supervises team members, allowing them to learn because "they have to continue on for the next few seasons."

Henrichs said it can be challenging trying to accomplish everything in a build season, but not so challenging so that"you can still do a lot." The hardest part has been staying focused during the long hours of a six-week build season and inter-team communication.

"It's difficult to get all the stuff done on time while still trying to have fun doing it," Henrichs pointed out.

Henrichs plans to attend UW-Platteville for mechanical engineering. Huerta has aspirations of attending Princeton University to study mechanical engineering with UW-Madison as a backup.

That's the biggest reason for the FIRST Roboitcs Competitionprogram, Billetdeaux said to prepare students for college and the real world.

While FRC team members work with their peers toward a common goal, the part that's bigger than all of them are the skills they will take into the world to build a better future for all.

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Mukwonago robotics Team 930 steams ahead to competition - Lake Country Now