Submitted by Evelyn Mertl Kime, a first-year student at Somerville High School: The Highlanders is a robotics team in Somerville competing with creative style and strong technical abilities that have led it to many victories throughout its 10 seasons. You can always spot members in a crowd with their red hoodies, lively chants and big googly eyes. The team qualified recently for the New England District Championship in the competition run by the nonprofit organization First, standing for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.”
Before victories can be achieved, a robot has to be created. Every year, students get introduced to a new game on the first Saturday of January. From then until their first competition, they design, program and build a robot that can complete the task needed to get points within a game. They believe a robot can only be as good as its design, so they’ve dedicated themselves to prototyping, testing and optimizing their plans. There are many components that could make or break a robot’s performance, which is why they had a clear blueprint for their electrical and mechanical construction.
Many late nights were spent not only creating their robot but constantly improving science, technology, engineering and math opportunities in their community. The team is led by dedicated students in upper grades who strive not only to build a good robot, but to teach pass on their knowledge to younger students so the team can continue to sustain itself for many seasons to come.
Despite the time limit, the team still came out with an amazing, functional robot named Plunk.
The students started the season off strong at their first competition, the Granite State District Event. Here, they ended up in eighth place after 12 qualifying matchings with an 8-4 record. Judges hand-picked them for an award recognizing them for their robot and science, technology, engineering and math programs. They are exceptionally proud of what their team achieved throughout this competition, especially compared with previous years.
At its Greater Boston competition the following week, the team sought to do even better. It finished with an 11-1 record and climbed to a team-record-breaking second place after qualifying matches – and became the second seed alliance captain for the first time in the team’s history. Here they rose to the occasion and, with the help of “alliance” members the Blue Devils from Salem, New Hampshire, and Cyber Sailors from Scituate, advanced rapidly through the playoffs.
In the semifinals, the team faced off against the first-seeded alliance. This team was a major competitor that has competed in the finals of the world championships. Nevertheless, when it mattered, Somerville’s team delivered: In a close match with an improbable comeback, it secured the win with a score of 157 to 150. This knocked the first-seeded alliance to the lower bracket and guaranteed a spot in the finals.
The teams met again in the finals. This rematch had The Highlanders slightly behind, ending up with a record-breaking second place and the finalist award. The judges were impressed by the Somerville robot’s design and honored the team for the second time with the Judges Award.
The top 96 teams from New England compete against each other April 2-5 at district championships at The Big E in West Springfield, a chance to advance to the Worlds Championship. The students hope to continue their momentum and perform well. Overall, they are thrilled for this opportunity and will remember this season for years to come.
A stronger
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