Broadwater Robotics Team Earns Innovate Award, Advances to State
Author: Matt Nelson
Matt Nelson
On Saturday, January 17th, the Broadwater Robotics team met at Carroll College in Helena in a preliminary competition to go to the state finals on February 6th at Montana State University in Bozeman. The Broadwater Robotics team is part of local non-profit STOKE, which stands for Science, Technology, Outdoors, Knowledge, Entrepreneurship.
STOKE is a youth program providing opportunities for Townsend youth to participate in outdoor adventures, pottery, skiing, cooking and other STEAM activities. Twenty-five teams from around the state demonstrated their robots at the competition.
Eight students, consisting of Nik Toney, Kay Crusch, Liam Wells, Karolyn Schmaus, Gavin Greene, Aiden Kitto, Cooper Nichter, and Trenton Essary and their coaches Jessica Crusch, Dr. Lisa Brown, Spencer Sellay, Bobbie McCauley, and Roger Flynn were at the competition.
This year’s competition, put on by the FIRST organization, centers around shooting plastic balls into elevated hoops on a fast-moving field. Robots race to collect balls, line up, and fire at the targets under pressure. The match is a two and half minute match with 30 seconds of autonomous and two minutes of remote control. At the Carroll College competition, Broadwater’s robot earned a reputation for its powerful shooter—one that the announcer jokingly referred to as a “death ray.” The robot sent balls rocketing toward the hoops with impressive speed and force.
Broadwater Robotics robot struggled the first few matches, but the students were persistent. Because of their attitude and impressing the judges, they won the Innovate Award, sponsored by the aerospace company RTX. As a result, they became the 11th out of 12 teams chosen to go to the state tournament.
Coach Roger Flynn says, “The award reflected the work of the entire team, from robot design and programming to documentation and communication. Students clearly articulated their ideas and demonstrated how their robot evolved over the course of the season.
We started back in September, with students putting in hours designing, building, testing, and refining the robot. As competition got closer, there were a few late nights spent making final tweaks. Coaches Spencer Sellay, Dr. Lisa Brown, Dr. Adam Six, Bobbie McCauley, Jessica Crusch, Jim Straight, and myself, along with parents and mentors, were there throughout the fall and winter, helping support the team through a long season.
The program would not be possible without the continued support of our sponsors. Thank you to STOKE, Townsend Rotary, The Lodge of Townsend, Ace Hardware of Townsend, Graymont, Bob’s Supermarket, Broadwater Equipment Services, Opportunity Bank, Green Wing, Squatch Country Construction Services, Systems Northwest, Boeing, the Birch Family, Sim and Robin Hofman, and the Gianforte Family Foundation for their support of Broadwater Robotics.”
Christine Roberts, the Board Member of Main Sequence Robotics, told this reporter:
“The students learn a lot. They learn programming and building skills, they learn so much from this program, that’s what I really love about it. They learn the technical aspects of coding, and building, and using machines. They are creative, they troubleshoot all of the time, and as you see today, when your robot is having an issue, you have to troubleshoot it. And you have a limited amount of time to troubleshoot it before your next match.”
Broadwater Robotics includes more than 50 students, with programs for elementary students in grades 3–5, middle school students, and high school students, allowing participants to start young and continue building their skills as they move through the program.
This momentum carries into the weekend, as the two Broadwater Robotics middle school teams will compete in FIRST LEGO League competition this Saturday at Four Georgians Elementary in Helena. FIRST is a youth robotics program that challenges students to design, build, and compete with robots while developing teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Good luck Broadwater Robotics when you go to the state championship tournament.
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Image 1 Caption: From left to Right: Nik Toney, Coach Jessica Crusch, Kay Crusch, Coach Dr. Lisa Brown, Liam Wells, Coach Spencer Sellay, Karolyn Schmaus, Gavin Greene, Aiden Kitto, Cooper Nichter, Trenton Essary, Coach Bobbie McCauley, Coach Roger Flynn
Photo Credit: Roger Flynn
Image 2 Caption: Front view of the Broadwater Robotics Robot
Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
Image 3 Caption: The actual competition match area for the robotics competition
Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
