To the moon and back

 Newcastle Lego robotics team explores space
Jen Kocher
NLJ Correspondent
 
Tucked away in the Outback in a room off the hall at Newcastle Middle School, 16-year-old Chase Loebs and his Lego robotics team members are quietly tackling problems in space.  
Attaching the arm is the hardest part, Loebs explained, as he leaned over the square robot that looked a lot like a souped-up tank with big wheels and a sturdy square front. As the longest-serving member of the Newcastle Lego Robotics Club, Loebs is considered a peer leader, a role he takes seriously. 
He and fellow team member Cody Qualheim confer and then try a couple different combinations that they decide aren’t going to work – it’s going to take a bit more configuring before they can build an arm that both carries and lifts. 
The clock is ticking.
In less than 30 days, the Newcastle Space Invaders will leave for the annual FIRST Lego League Robotics Competition in Casper on Nov. 30. That’s their deadline. Before that date, they have to program a workable robot that can tackle a host of missions, including angling solar panels, printing a 3-D brick and carrying an astronaut safely to the airlock chamber so he can once again breathe. 
All 64 teams from across the state face the same
challenges and missions. The theme varies from year to year – this year it’s “Into Orbit” – but the tasks and missions remain the same. The trick for the young engineers is to build and program their bots to do the missions at
hand, which is where the tricky part comes in. Newcastle’s 15-person team is working together to find solutions. 
Last year, Newcastle came in fifth and took home a trophy for gracious professionalism for performing professionally with honor and no bragging.
Programming robots and performing missions is just one aspect of robotics, according to the FIRST Lego League mission statement. Equally important is having strong core values, like building teamwork, having a strong character and keeping up one’s grades. There are mutually-agreed upon rules to being in robotics and things like being late or letting your grades slip come with a punishment.
Seventh-grader Nate Strickland has learned this the hard way, having spent a fair amount of time sorting Legos to make up for his tardiness. Truthfully, he said, he doesn’t mind the sorting and pretty much just enjoys being a part of the group.
The rest of the team agreed. They discussed what exactly they liked about being a part of the team and competing. “It’s fun,” “challenging” and a “fun after-school activity” are reasons mentioned frequently. 
Along with the robot competition, the teams are also required to turn in a research paper that tackles some problem in space. The Newcastle team is trying to solve shortcomings with communication in space by devising ways to transmit voices from space to Earth.
Lego robotics continues to grow in popularity with more than 20 teams statewide joining this year alone, according to Cyndee Guthmiller, 
FIRST Robotics Facilitator and activities coordinator for the Natrona County school district, who handles registration for the event.  Educators taught the hands-on activities and problem-solving skills that engage kids in the engineering and science and STEM disciplines. The competition is capped at 64 and all of those slots are filled. 
Getting kids involved in STEM subjects was the impetus for Dean Kamen, who came up with the idea for FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in the late ’80s. The inventor of the Segway scooter, a six-wheeled robotic wheelchair and an electric generator that can run on cow dung had noted that far too many teens were dropping out of science and math classes. Kamen wanted to find a way to encourage the next generation of innovators.
It seems to be catching – mostly, anyway, when it comes to boys – as competitions crop up throughout the U.S. and Wyoming and in 80 countries abroad. For whatever reasons, girls don’t seem to be as drawn to robotics. A handful of girls have joined Newcastle’s team for a little while, but ultimately drop out for sports or other activities, which is consistent with the experience of other teams from across the state. Other than all-girl teams like the Girl Scouts, girls tend to stay away.
The exception is senior Alaina Boettcher, who has been with the team since middle school. A senior now, she is too old for the group, which ranges in age from 8 to 16. She returned as an advisor and has no problem being the only girl.
Boettcher said she plans to be a nurse and that this type of detail-orientated problem solving is something she loves, and will no doubt help her in her future career.
Group advisor Tammy Allen agreed.
“I can’t see one thing about robotics that does not build either character or academic development,” she said. “It’s an outstanding program that our youth benefit from.”
The program in Newcastle has been around for just over a decade, after Allen and others saw a presentation in Casper that they found intriguing. They ultimately rolled it into the program in conjunction with 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
Perhaps more than the academic aspect of Lego robotics, Allen said she appreciates the benefit it has on the students personally when it comes to character building.
“What is really cool is that each student has multiple places to shine,” she said. “They may not be great at presentations, but they may really shine in the coding/programming of the robot. Or they may not understand the programming portion but are superior in design, and so forth. The students we have in robotics start one year, and they come back each year with new friends ready to join. They are becoming quite the masters of robotics. And they love it and create a wonderful team.” 
 
The Space Invaders will be competing at the Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Robotics Competition on Friday, Nov. 30, from 5 to 9 p.m. and on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Casper Events Center.