Sharon robotics team prepares for world championships | News

SHARON — The Sharon Tiger Techs Robotics Team Orange is going to be testing their skills against teams from around the world next week.

Team Orange previously took second place in the Pennsylvania FIRST Lego League State Competition in March in Pittsburgh, where the students competed against more than 400 teams, coach Dave Tomko said.

With that victory under the belts, the members of Team Orange are advancing to the FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas, which will be held from April 17 through 21.

“Team Orange has placed in Worlds before, but this is the first time since COVID that we’ll be able to travel there,” Tomko said.

For the past eight months, the students designed, built and programmed Lego EV3 Mindstorm robots, which will compete on a thematic playing field, according to a press release.

The theme for this year’s season, “Masterpiece,” involved arts and technology, so the playing field includes multiple art-themed Lego stations, such as levers on a music system or a Lego figure performing in a concert.

For the competition, Team Orange’s robot must complete as many of the challenges as quickly as possible within 2½ minutes, for a total possible score of 550, ninth-grader Tony Gaggini said.

The robot must complete the challenges autonomously, such as moving the music system’s levers, without assistance from the team.

“We’re not supposed to touch the robot or help it at all,” Gaggini said.

The competition will give the participants a chance to learn about next season’s theme earlier than usual, although many of the students said what they looked forward to was meeting their fellow robotics enthusiasts.

“There’ll be teams from all over the world there,” fifth-grader Luca Paoletta said.

Along with the robotic challenge, Team Orange needed to complete an innovation project that ties into the arts theme while serving the community.

This led the team’s members to develop “Adapt-A-Reel,” a fishing device that can help amputees or people with limited fine motor skills when reeling in a catch.

The project started with a survey to determine what the most popular hobby was — which turned out to be fishing.

A second survey on the most difficult part of fishing led the team to focus on a device that would assist people when reeling in a fish.

When developing the “Adapt-A-Reel,” Team Orange worked with local experts and a few clients at Whole Life Services in Hermitage to make the device more universal.

Some features include a pair of reel-holders, grips to keep the reel secure, and an inflatable interior for arms of different sizes.

“It needed to be something that would help people enjoy the arts or their hobby,” ninth-grader Matthew Schimp said of the project.

The students are working with attorney and Sharon graduate Robert Sovesky to develop a provisional patent on the Adapt-A-Reel, Tomko said.

Aside from the competition in Houston, Tomko said the students will be able to spend some time visiting Galveston, Texas, including a trip to the NASA Space Center.

The team is funded by sponsors and the Sharon City School District. For more information, visit www.tigertechsrobotics.com.

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