Advancing to Super-Regionals

After being one of three Hewlett High School robotics teams that together won half of the 22 awards at the FIRST Tech Challenge Long Island Championship Tournament at Smithtown High School West on Feb. 11, Team Innovo advanced to next month’s Super-Regionals in Pennsylvania. 

RoboBoogie and Bionica, the other two teams in the Hewlett Robotics Club, took home six awards from the tournament. But since Team Innovo took second place in the competition for the prestigious Inspire award, it will continue.

“There’s a lot of sportsmanship involved,” Ben Kaplan, Team Innovo’s captain and its head engineer, explained. He added that in this competition, participants are encouraged to help one another — something FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) describes as “gracious professionalism.” In fact, the Inspire award is given to teams that embrace such ideals and provide a model for others.

FIRST is a not-for-profit organization that encourages young people to engage in science and technology, as well as to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Students serving as builders, programmers, business people and artists have been joining forces annually in such competitions, and their success has aided in the promotion of the sciences within the Hewlett-Woodmere School District. Hewlett robotics coach Janine Torresson said the robotics students are inspired to bring what they learn in their science, math and art classes to robotics practices, and to “challenge themselves to solve problems and develop their own skill base, strengths and ingenuity.”

The Super-Regionals will take place at the University of Scranton March 17-19. Should Innovo win, the next level is the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship April 26-29 at America’s Center Dome in St. Louis. The FIRST Tech Challenge is a competition for students in grades seven through 12 in which teams design, build, program and operate robots that complete timed tasks. Roughly 5,500 teams and 55,000 participants between ages 12 and 18 competed in the 2016-17 FIRST Tech Challenge, according to its website.

Andrew Pareles, a head programmer, said that team members use trigonometry and Android Studio technology to program the robots. Through these calculations, they determine how fast each motor should go and how far a robot moves during the autonomous portion of the game. Two phones are used to operate a robot; one phone is mounted on it and the other is connected to the controller. The phones communicate through Wi-Fi. “We calculate how far left, right, forwards or backwards the robot has to move,” Pareles said.

Before the Super-Regionals, the team will be working to make adjustments and improvements to its robot. The number 5477, which appears on the robot, was assigned to Team Innovo when it registered since was the 5,477th team to join.
Danny Mizrahi, a senior builder, explained the mentorship aspect of the team and how senior members guide newer members. “We really feel the need to carry on the legacy for Innovo even after we leave,” he said, emphasizing the importance of showing newer members the ins and outs of robotics.

Mike Christ, the Hewlett Robotics mentor, said he began the first team, RoboBoogie 3540, in 2009 with his brother-in-law, Matt Schildknecht, a physics teacher at Hewlett High. Kaplan emphasized that the club has since “flourished.” There were 11 members on Team Innovo last year, and the team grew to 18 this year, Mizrahi added.

“It’s not just about the robot ­­­— we’re a family,” Nate Eisenberg, a junior builder from North Woodmere, said of Team Innovo.

Outreach is an essential aspect of the Robotics Club. The team has led a weekly coding class for elementary school students in the district since last spring. During STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) nights and coding classes, Andrew Pareles and his twin brother Mathew help younger students who want to learn more about programming.

“It’s inspiring us for our future,” Jason Rodolitz, another head programmer, added. He noted that the team brainstorms with and asks advice of the NYU and Columbia University robotics teams.

The robotics team has a GoFundMe page to help defray costs. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/HewlettRobotics.