By Erin Crisafi
The Green GearTicks hold an outdoor meeting.
This year, Lincoln’s FIRST Lego League teams continued under the mentorship of the GearTicks, Lincoln’s FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) Robotics Team, with a few adaptations. Because of the ongoing pandemic, there were no organized programs through the Parks and Recreation Department. Instead, teams took the initiative to form their groups and met in new and creative ways. Meetings took place in garages, living rooms, and over Zoom.
FIRST Lego League (FLL) is a Lego robotics competition for students in grades 4–8 that exposes them to engineering and programming with mentorship from kids in FTC, the next level, where students in grades 7–12 compete with robots using real-world engineering materials and techniques including 3D printing, custom laser-cut pieces, and more. In a normal year, the teams are named after their GearTicks mentors and differentiated by a color. This year they’re green, blue, orange, and a team that elected to choose a new name, Hephaestus.
The FLL theme this year was centered around shipping and transportation. The various challenges were related to all things cargo — students had to use their robot to push trucks, lift packages, and build bridges. As part of the project portion of the competition, teams looked to their own community for a shipping-related problem they could solve. The Green GearTicks addressed the problem of inefficient shipping times by creating a solution where packages from online orders are shipped to schools and then be put into lockers for students to bring home at the end of the school day. They shared this solution with their school principal and local mail workers, who gave them personal insight and feedback on their idea.
Although being a mostly first-year team, the Green GearTicks managed to pull off a very successful season. The team held two meetings a week outside or even in an open garage with heaters in the winter months. “When I mentored their team, I noticed that even though most of the team members had never been exposed to FLL before, all had the FIRST mindsets of gracious professionalism and cooperation,” said Henry Hussey, a high school Green GearTicks mentor.
Despite the obstacles presented by Covid-19, the Lincoln teams had a very successful season. “It was great to be able to mentor the teams in person this year and see the products of their hard work,” high school GearTick mentor Amelia Pillar said.
“Every member of the team was so active and passionate about robotics, and I couldn’t stop myself from becoming just as excited for the competitions as they were,” Andreas Muzila said.
Out of the five teams, two progressed onto the Massachusetts State Championship. These two teams were comprised of fifth-grade girls who exhibited commendable perseverance. At their qualification tournaments, teams received awards including the Qualifiers Champions Award (highest award) and First Place Robot Game for the Green GearTicks and the Research Project Award for the Aqua GearTicks.
Bibek Karmacharya and Mark Darie of the FLL team Orange GearTicks) are mentored by high school Prerna Karmacharya (right).
The high school GearTicks love mentoring FLL teams and were glad to be able to continue. It was a wonderful opportunity to make lasting memories as well. Describing his favorite moment of the season, Muzila said, “One of the team members was excitedly showing off a new concept for a design they came up with. The passion and excitement in their voice as they explained the idea to me will always stick with me.”
Robyn Dunbar, the coach of sixth-grade team Orange GearTicks, added, “Watching our FLL team work together to solve the problem, both on the robot missions as well as in the research project, is always amazing. The process engages everyone, fostering collaboration and building individual confidence.”
Both high school and middle school GearTicks teams are excited for what next year will bring. If you or your child is interested in joining the FLL program as a coach or team member, email hello@gearticks.com and be on the lookout for our open house at the end of May.
The FLL Explore robotics program designed for students aged 6-10 is also something we can help you get started with. Similar to FLL, it is a Lego-based program where students solve problems and the program can be run from home like this past FLL season. The team encourage potential coaches to start teams with our help, either virtually or in person when possible.