Wilton Library’s robotics team heads to regional tournament for first time – Thehour.com

Photo: Stephanie Kim / Hearst Connecticut Media

Rohit Singhal and Nikia Muraskin of Wilton Library's robotics team, Singularity Technology, inspecting the teams robot.

Rohit Singhal and Nikia Muraskin of Wilton Library's robotics team, Singularity Technology, inspecting the teams robot.

The robot built by members of Singularity Technology, Wilton Library's robotics team.

The robot built by members of Singularity Technology, Wilton Library's robotics team.

The robot built by members of Singularity Technology, Wilton Library's robotics team.

The robot built by members of Singularity Technology, Wilton Library's robotics team.

Controllers for the robot built by members of Singularity Technology, Wilton Library's robotics team.

Controllers for the robot built by members of Singularity Technology, Wilton Library's robotics team.

As the software captain of Singularity Technology, Albert Wei (right) works on new coding for the teams robot.

As the software captain of Singularity Technology, Albert Wei (right) works on new coding for the teams robot.

Wilton Librarys robotics team heads to regional tournament for first time

WILTON For the first time, Wilton Librarys robotics team, Singularity Technology, will compete among 72 of the best FIRST Tech Challenge robotics teams in the eastern region, after winning second place at the state competition.

FIRST Tech Challenge teams consist of 10 or more members, grades 7-12, who are challenged to design, build, program and operate robots to complete various tasks.

Aside from the robot kit thats provided, students practically build and program the robot from scratch using online design programs and the 3-D printer in the librarys Innovation Station, said team captain Nickia Muraskin, a senior at Wilton High School.

We are very proud of the fact that were actually able to manufacture the parts ourselves with the 3-D printer, she said. Thats a really big part of what makes our team a success.

Muraskin leads the team of 10 high school and middle school students with six high-schoolers on the main team and four middle-schoolers on the prototype team.

Since their first year as a rookie team in 2013, Muraskin said the team has become a much stronger competitor.

We were looking back on some old pictures and our robot from that year looks like absolutely nothing compared to this years, she said. Its a much more cohesive team than in years past.

With two weeks left before the super-regional tournament, members of the team have been meeting at the library after school for several hours a day, at least twice a week. Albert Wei, the teams software captain, said the team is focusing on fine-tuning the robots capabilities lifting a cap ball the size of a large medicine ball into the goal post and pressing infrared beacons in both autonomous and driver, or teleop, modes as well as adding a ball launching mechanism, which they hope will increase their chances of placing.

Were all really excited, especially in the software, because were able to show all of the new things were trying out, said Wei, a senior at Wilton High School.

Emilie McCann, the teams build captain, also attributes part of the teams success to improved organization, community outreach and cooperation with other competitors, which are all factors that judges consider when scoring teams.

So its a lot more than just building a robot, because we have to deal with the programming and the fundraising. Then, keeping documentation of everything, said McCann, a junior at Wilton High School. I feel like if we work hard, we could actually have a chance at super-regionals.

Other team members include Cathy Campbell, Alex Cameron, Navod Jayawardhane, Harris Patnaik, Khloe Rackley, Rishabh Raniwala, and Rohit Singhal. The team works with volunteer mentors Paul Lauricella and Tom Abend, as well as library staffers Susan Lauricella and Thomas Kozak.

The Lauricellas worked with Kozak in forming the team in 2013, around the same time of planning the Innovation Station. Kozak said the best part of helping the team is watching them grow in their technical and leadership skills.

This is a really proud year because we started off kind of assuming that we were going to have a little bit better than a performance last year, he said. And then we just started winning the awards.

The team will compete at the super-regional tournament from March 17-19 at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania for a chance to compete in one of two world championships.

SKim@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1044; @stephaniehnkim

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Wilton Library's robotics team heads to regional tournament for first time - Thehour.com