Robotics team creates Mechanical Advantage – Lowell Sun

Littleton s Zach Miller turns a rotor at the FIRST Robotics Competition New England District Championships earlier this month.

LITTLETON -- When a group of high-school students in Littleton formed a robotics team last summer, expectations were contained for their first-ever competitive season. The members were new to the field, they did not have any test equipment to lean on from previous years, and failure was part of the process.

But just a few weeks after Littleton's Mechanical Advantage 6328 started its season in the FIRST Robotics Competition, the team has become one of the best in New England. After qualifying for this month's world championships, the group now has a shot at success on the global stage.

Sreenidhi Chalimadugu, a Littleton High School sophomore on the team, described the experience as "overwhelming."

"I personally never thought of even making it this far," she said. "We've all learned so much in such a short period of time, whether it's mechanical aspects of the robot or team-building skills involved. It's just a great experience and it's really surreal, too, to make it this far and come to worlds."

It became clear early on that the team had potential. In its first event, Mechanical Advantage finished fifth out of 39 teams, and it compiled enough points -- awarded for how successful its robot was in parts of the game such as transporting gears and firing wiffle balls into a large container -- over the season to qualify for the playoffs.

Mechanical Advantage made it to the quarterfinals of the New England District Championships.

Along the way, the team won the New England District "Rookie All Star" award, which also would have landed a spot at worlds had the team not already qualified by ranking.

"One of the things we all have in common is our love for what we do here," Chalimadugu said. "Being a part of that success is something we've all been lucky to go through.

Members of Littleton High School s Mechanical Advantage 6328 robotics team, right, compete in last month s FIRST Robotics Competition. PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRIAN MILLER

The team's "determination" has been the key to its success, according to 21-year-old Deanna Clark, one of the group's two mentors. Members gathered almost every day since kickoff in January to plan and build their robot. Most devoted a minimum of 30 hours per week, and before competitions, some would even stay until 2 a.m. fine-tuning details.

Clark recalled one anecdote that she described as the "essence of (the) team": in a match at district championships, the robot got a ball stuck in one of its pieces. Members drove the robot into the wall to try and jar the ball loose, but in the process, they sheared a key piece of the robot's interior.

The mentors and students frantically took the apparatus apart, but time until their next match continued to slip away. With seconds to go, Zac Temple, the other mentor, ordered his team to begin driving the robot to the arena with his hands still inside of it tightening screws.

After almost missing the entire match with a broken robot, Mechanical Advantage managed to pull out a victory. Most team members cried with joy, Clark said.

"I think that just really shows our team and what we're about," she said. "Most teams probably would have just said, 'oh, it's broken, we can't get to the match.' But we were getting to that match."

For Clark, success is an important part of helping the team grow its roots in Littleton.

"When your team doesn't do well, it's not fun, and you don't want to come back," she said. "It's really critical in the first year to be successful."

The team is still meeting several times per week to prepare for worlds and to perfect their strategies. They are also working to raise funds to support the trip to St. Louis. Those interested in donating can do so at littletonrobotics.org/donate.

Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisLisinski.

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Robotics team creates Mechanical Advantage - Lowell Sun