The GearTicks team with their robot. Back row, left to right: Oliver Chu, Ethan Chu , Will Mendelson, Henry Hussey, Maeve Hussey, Camille Gammack. Front row, left to right: Miles Wang, Aaron Ortiz, Ela Koro, and Ira McLure (click to enlarge).
The GearTicks, a Lincoln-based student robotics team, competed in March at the Massachusetts FTC Robotics State Championship in Boston and were runners-up for the Motivate Award for their strong outreach efforts, including volunteering at the Perkins School for the Blind and in various community events in Lincoln.
The GearTicks take part in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) competition for students in grades 7-12, where teams around the world design, build, and program robots to complete a challenge each year. At competitions, 18-by-18-inch robots are pitted against each other in two-on-two matches, where teams compete to have their robot score points in a variety of ways. The robot must be fully autonomous for the first 30 seconds of the match, while the final two minutes are driver-controlled.
This year’s challenge, “Into the Deep,” features rectangular blocks, or “samples,” which robots are tasked with picking up. These samples can be scored by dropping them into four-foot-high baskets. Alternatively, they can be delivered to the human drive team, who can modify the sample so that it can be hung on a bar. The most exciting part of the game comes in the final seconds, or “Endgame,” when robots can attempt to hoist themselves up a series of two bars and hang at the top, a full three feet off the ground.
The GearTicks’ robot after a completed “Ascent,” where it climbed up two rungs to hang over three feet off the ground.
At the state championship, the GearTicks showed off their custom-made robot in signature blue colors. They most notably created an arm that could extend out 48 inches and rotate 100 degrees. Blocks were picked up with a silicone-molded intake and could be dropped off with the same mechanism. An innovative part of the GearTicks’ design was a NeoPixel LED panel that they coded to display custom images to provide information for drivers. In addition, the GearTicks were one of the few teams who were able to find a solution to the difficult task of hanging the robot from the highest bar.
Much of the FTC Robotics competition is centered around judging — teams are evaluated based on their robot, design process, programming, and community outreach — and the GearTicks took second place in the last category.
The event capped off a strong season, where the GearTicks were able to advance to the state level after winning their initial qualifying competition, achieving the Inspire Award (the top award) out of a field of 22 teams. With their season now over, the GearTicks are running outreach events and preparing ahead of next season.
If you or your child is interested in joining the FTC program as a coach or team member, contact us at hello@gearticks.com. If your child is too young to join FTC, there are also LEGO-based FIRST Robotics programs for elementary- and middle school-aged students, FIRST Lego League/FLL (grades 4-8), or FLL Explore (grades 2-4). To learn more, come visit to the FIRST Robotics Open House at the Lincoln School on May 27.