BFHS robotics team 2130 Alpha+ begins season
BONNERS FERRY — Bonners Ferry High School robotics First Team 2130 Alpha+ enters its 16th season and they are ready to compete with this year's new game.
FIRST Robotics is a worldwide robotics competition that brings high school level teams together to compete in a different competition every year. This year the competition is a game called RAPID REACH.
The game is presented by the Boeing Company where two competing teams are invited to compete by putting large tennis balls — or cargo into a goal from 8.5 feet to 4.5 feet high. Points are calculated by goals scored and by how high the robots can climb.
Team 2130 Alpha+ students are organized into four teams — programming, building, wiring and business. Corey Clairmont is the senior lead programmer. He has been part of the program since eighth grade and is excited to compete in person this year.
There has been no physical competition in the last two years, Clairmont said. There was an online competition last year, but it was not as fun as past years, he said. This year Team 2130 Alpha+ have to build and program a robot that can launch large tennis-like balls into a goal, followed by having to climb up monkey bars.
“All competitions have their own challenges,” Clairmont said. “Before the robots were weighted and had to balance out each other’s weight.”
He said each year and each competition bring different complexities, but the team is up for the challenge.
He said that the robot will have to climb at this competition. It is something that Team 2130 Alpha+ has done before, but it always brings new challenges.
“Climbing is weird,” Clairmont said. “We don’t have a set way for programming for that.”
In the past, the code used was not up to par to complete the climbing challenge, Clairmont said, adding this year they are pushing the programming to be better. This is Clairmont’s senior year and he has only been to one competition before. He is looking forward to competing in Nampa, then districts and to the world competition in Houston, Texas.
Each team is tackling a different challenge for the competition since it is too much for one team to do alone.
“We’re flexible and know each other well and so we make a good team,” said Thomas Hubbell.
The team has only been working on the robots for three weeks. Building team members Alex Stella and Seth Tuma are working on a shooter to launch the balls to score goals in the competition.
Stella said the robot will have three methods for picking up the ball. To do that, they need to form a u-joint that allows constant velocity from the motor to be given to the three arms at once. They are also working on a shooter that uses wheels to launch the balls into the goals.
In the past competitions, the robots have had to climb before, but the climbs were vertical. Now they have to travers monkey-bars.
“All games have some form of climbing, but now they’re taking it up a notch,” he said.
He said he has enjoyed the robotics program and first got started in the Lego League in middle school. Having to physically solve a problem instead of writing an answer down on paper is inspiring, Stella said.
“It is much better than anything on paper, you can actually work with your hands and get to building the things you’re imagining. We make ideas come to life,” Stella said. “This is an amazing program where you learn new skills.”
Each year, the robots have different specifications from size, weight and height. This year, the robots have to have a perimeter of 120 inches. Building team members said they are excited to solve the problem as they design the robot.
But the robotics team isn’t just about programming and engineering. There also is a business team as well that helps raise funds for the team, keeps it on budget and manages social media. Kaylee McCabe and Grace Hopkins are on the business team, writing grant proposals to fund the team’s projects and to travel to competitions. They also reach out to local businesses for donations to the program.
McCabe said that having this technical and professional writing experience will be useful for her future career.
Hopkins hasn’t taken a technical writing course at Bonners Ferry High School and so she is supplementing learning through the robotics program, Hopkins said.
The robotics team meets Monday through Thursday from 4-6 p.m.
“With the past two years being impacted by the pandemic and all in-person competition being moved to remote or virtual options, the team is extremely excited to be back in person and heading to competitions in Nampa this year,” said Sara Yoder, robotics team coach.
Alpha+ has a tight 10-week schedule to completely design, build and program the robot before they leave for regionals in Nampa from March 30 through April 2. Once there, they will have the opportunity to compete with teams from all over the country and neighboring countries.
For more information on the team’s progress, please visit their Facebook page, FIRST Team 2130.
Team members said they are immensely grateful for the support and enthusiasm the community has shown toward the team. FIRST Team 2130 Alpha+ runs primarily on donations from businesses, organizations and community members, and appreciate all support or sponsorship. Checks may be made payable to Bonners Ferry High School Robotics and mailed to Bonners Ferry High School, 6485 Tamarack Lane, Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.
Anyone interested in joining the team as a student member or mentor contact 2130alphaplus@gmail.com, for further information.
For more information about FIRST Robotics, go to http://www.firstinspires.org.
For more information on the RAPID REACT competition see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgniEjI9cCM
