PHS robotics team wins Judges’ Award, places 14th at worlds event

Posted 5/2/17

Team 3188 (also known as Squiggle Splat Bang) finished 14th out of 64 teams in their division at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship April 18-22.

In addition, the team — made up of Nathaniel Whitham, Alan Merritt, Hattie Pimentel and …

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PHS robotics team wins Judges’ Award, places 14th at worlds event

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For Powell High School Robotics Team 3188, competing at the world tournament in Houston was the culmination of hundreds of hours of hard work.

Team 3188 (also known as Squiggle Splat Bang) finished 14th out of 64 teams in their division at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship April 18-22.

In addition, the team — made up of Nathaniel Whitham, Alan Merritt, Hattie Pimentel and Rhett Pimentel — won the Judges’ Award, which is given when a team’s unique efforts and performance merit recognition.

The judges called it the “Toolbox Award,” recognizing Team 3188’s ability to make its own parts and also recycle materials, said Hattie Pimentel.

“I thought it was cool, because it was recognizing something we had worked hard on, our custom parts,” said Rhett Pimentel. “We try to keep our budget pretty low. … A lot of the materials on our robot, rather than just go out and buy, we had to make them.”

The team also helped build computer numerical control (CNC) machines at the Powell Makerspace — and then used that equipment to create parts for their robot.

Judges said that “when this team didn’t have the tools they needed, they built them,” said Allen Griffin, who coaches PHS robotics.

The team also had a full-size display of their robot, so people could learn about its different parts, even when the robot wasn’t present at their booth.

“The judges loved that. They loved a lot about the team,” said Judith LaPlante, a mentor for the team.

Team 3188 was the only Wyoming team to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championship.

There were two dozen countries represented at the tournament. In one of their rounds, Team 3188 partnered with a Chinese team.

“That was a cool experience,” Rhett Pimental said.

“There was a bit of a language barrier,” added Whitham.

LaPlante served as a judge at the tournament, and judged teams from Israel, China and across the U.S.

“Seeing that process was really, really helpful,” LaPlante said.

The PHS students also enjoyed seeing the other world-class robots.

“Some of them were doing things we hadn’t even thought about,” Merritt said.

Each robot was designed for the FIRST Tech Challenge game called the Velocity Vortex. The game is split into two rounds: autonomous, where robots operate using only pre-programmed instructions, and then a driver-controlled period.

“Every robot there could do just about everything,” Rhett Pimentel said. “It was a matter of who could do it best, not if you could do it, for the most part.”

Teams approach the challenge differently, with some only focusing on one aspect, such as shooting balls.

After nine rounds of competition, Team 3188 finished 14th in their division.

Coach Griffin said they had a lot of firsts this year — the first year a team advanced from the super regional tournament to worlds, the first time a PHS team ranked at worlds, and the first awards PHS has received at worlds.

“It was way awesome,” Griffin said of the tournament. “I can almost guarantee we were the only state that had the governor show up.”

Gov. Matt Mead attended the tournament in Houston and spent time with the PHS team.

“I really liked the way he engaged with the kids,” said Griffin, adding that the governor asked the students a lot of questions about their robot.

Mead also met with Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST who is famous for inventing the Segway. LaPlante said they talked about ways to promote and expand robotics in Wyoming.

In addition to focusing on how to encourage robotics teams in the state, the PHS robotics students will look at doing more focused outreach in the community.

LaPlante said the team also will work on how to sell themselves. It’s important to build relationships with the other robotics teams, especially as they select alliance partners at tournaments.

“They have a super solid robot,” LaPlante said. “They did great in Montana; they won Wyoming; they got the Aspire Award; they were alliance captain at Super Regionals. Very few other teams came in with that kind of reliable robot.”

She said the team is modest about their success.

“It’s a good life skill to learn about how to promote yourself in a way that’s comfortable and honest,” LaPlante said.

Three members of Team 3188 will return to PHS next year as seniors, while Merritt will be a junior. The team plans to use the summer months to prepare for next year.

The team also will look at using field vision on their robot, since it sounds like it may be part of the next challenge, Whitham said.

Merritt said the team plans to “practice building and programming things, so next season we’ll already have those skills for whatever the challenge is going to be,” Merritt said.

“We’re also going to work on our strategy more next year,” Hattie Pimentel said.

Strategy is a key part.

“I would say that’s the hardest part of the whole game, is coming up with a winning strategy,” LaPlante said. “You can be a great engineer, but if you have a bad strategy, it doesn’t really matter.”

A team from Simms, Montana (near Great Falls), won the world tournament in Houston.

“It’s not like it’s all in Silicon Valley — we have world-class competition at home,” said Rhett Pimentel.

Team 3188 members said they appreciate the support of coach Griffin, and mentors Troy Pimentel, Ladell Merritt, and Judith and Rick LaPlante.

“We had a lot of support this year, from our mentors,” Rhett Pimentel said. “All these people have come in and donated a ton of time.”

He said they also appreciate the support from the Powell school district, Makerspace, sponsors, donors and the community.

“There’s so many people out there who have helped us,” Rhett Pimentel said.

Out of more than 83,000 students from 25 countries who competed in the FIRST Robotics competition this year, two Powell High School students stood out.

Juniors Rhett Pimentel and Hattie Pimentel each were named Dean’s List finalists — an honor given to only 145 participants from state or super-regional competitions.

Rhett Pimentel then became one of just 10 students worldwide to win the Dean’s List Award in Houston in April.

The award is named in honor of FIRST robotics founder and inventor Dean Kamen, who created the Segway, among other things.

The award recognizes “the best of the best” among competitors for their technical skills, leadership and advancing the ideals of FIRST and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), said Rick LaPlante, a mentor for the PHS robotics team.

“Similar to National Merit Scholars, major engineering schools from around the world aggressively recruit Dean’s List winners,” LaPlante said.

During the world robotics tournament in Houston last month, the students met with some of the top schools, including MIT and Yale University.

Rhett Pimentel said it also was exciting to meet Kamen.

“It was pretty cool. It’s a program that I value a lot, and I put a lot of time into it,” he said. “It’s what I love to do.”

Pimentel also will receive a recommendation from FIRST leadership to colleges or employers of his choosing, an invitation to the Dean’s List Award Summit at FTC headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, this summer, and ongoing opportunities to work with his cohorts in the 2017 Dean’s List class, LaPlante said.

“This is a very big deal, and we couldn’t be more proud of him,” LaPlante said.

In addition to his involvement with PHS robotics, Pimentel serves on the Powell Makerspace board and regularly teaches classes at the Makerspace.

After returning from the world robotics tournament last week, Pimentel isn’t planning to take much of a break. He’s already thinking about what he can do this summer to prepare for the next FIRST Tech Challenge.

“I don’t know what else I’d want to do,” he said.

Photo courtesy Gov. Matt Mead’s Office

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