Creating robots, building friendships
The Moorestown Robolearners traveled to Denmark to competition in an international robotics competition.
The Moorestown Robotics Club is host to 14 For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Lego League teams. FLL competitions have students design and construct a robot that navigates an obstacle course, and for Moorestown’s Robolearners, this season gave them a chance not only to learn about robotics but to travel to an international competition in Denmark where the middle school-aged students may not have won the competition but walked away with a network of international friends.
The Robolearners travelled to Aarhus, Denmark, at the end of May to compete in the FLL Open European Championship Aarhus 2017, and more recently, they were able to share their international experiences with the Moorestown community at the Tuesday, June 20, Moorestown Board of Education meeting.
The Moorestown Robotics Club is a parent-run, self-funded organization formed in 2012. One of the Robolearners’ coaches, Chris Schaffer, said the club was meant to be almost like a sport for kids who like science and technology.
Schaffer said the program teaches young learners the scientific method, teamwork and presentation skills. He said the Roboleaners were formed three years ago with Moorestown youth ages 9 to 14, and the team has gotten progressively better every year. He said the team took first place at its local qualifying tournament held in Moorestown and went on to become first in South Jersey as well.
Schaffer and fellow coach James Mumma said they wanted to offer their young learners a chance to meet FLL teams from around the world, so they decided to enter the students in the Aaarhus competition.
The competitions are like Lego building with the added components of sensors and motors, Schaffer said. He said teams build a robot they believe will best transit the course at the competition and present their design to a panel of judges.
He said every year the FLL competitions have a theme with this year’s called “animal allies” asking teams to question how humans can live in better harmony with animals. For instance, one problem the students had to address was how to better transport bee colonies.
Despite being a competition, FLL’s core values foster a sense of camaraderie between teams. Their first day at the competition the students set up a booth with a world map on which they placed photos of their fellow competitors they took that same day. He said the booth encouraged other teams to interact with the Robolearners, and when the Robolearners’ battery died due to European voltage differences, a competing team gladly offered up its spare.
Team member Nate Hordis said travelling abroad was thrilling experience. On days where the team competed, there was a palpable sense of joy.
“For the competition, for me, it’s very exciting,” Hordis said. “I love getting into the feel of the competition. You get chances to learn things and make new friends.”
Robolearner Grace Mumma said she walked away from Denmark with friends from Madrid, Hong Kong and London whom she is still communicating with a month later.
Mumma said she joined Moorestown Robotics because her brother was on the team, and today, she knows the competition has enabled her to give a presentation with confidence.
The Robolearners plan to take the next year off and spend it using their knowledge and skills to help other Moorestown FLL teams.
Robolearner and brother to Grace, Luke Mumma, said he thinks helping other teams will be a mutually beneficial experience.
“Helping other teams will sometimes help us to see how they do things, to see how to compare them to what we do [and] see if there’s different ways to do things,” Luke Mumma said. “It’ll improve our skills too.”
