File:Robotics 2019 Minerva’s Mechanics Team from The Frederick News Post, March 26, 2019.jpg

Summary

School Notes: Brunswick robotics team qualifies for world championship

   By Wyatt Massey for The Frederick News Post, March 26, 2019

A team of high school engineers and designers will take their talents to the FIRST Robotics world championship in Detroit in April.

The 12-person team from Brunswick High School recently qualified for the world competition. Their team name — “Minerva’s Mechanics” — is alliteration based on the Roman goddess of art, war and wisdom.

Senior Taylor Edwards oversees the building of the robot. The group has come a long way from their first competitions three years ago, she said.

“None of us really knew about robotics or how to build a robot or anything like that,” Edwards said. “In these three years, we’ve put an insane amount of time and effort into it.”

The team’s robot has to fit in a specific sized box in order to qualify for competitions, Edwards said.

“One of the biggest challenges with designing the robot is having it fit inside an 18-inch sizing cube,” she said.

In the competitions, the robot must run autonomously, completing tasks to score points. Two drivers from the team can later control the robot to score more points. Emma Damazo, a senior, is in charge of programming the robot to complete the autonomous part of the competition.

The robot uses sensors to determine how to navigate the course and score points, Damazo said.

The team is also scored on their design journal, which is submitted to judges.

Emily Kaltenbaugh, a senior, worked on the design journal to document how the team created the robot and worked with the community.

“It’s a huge honor to be able to go to worlds,” Kaltenbaugh said. “This season was one of the first seasons we really stood out at qualifiers.”

The team formed three years ago. Brad Damazo, who works as an engineer, said he got involved creating the team after his daughter realized there were few after-school opportunities for students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“Being a parent and an engineer, I got roped into that one pretty quickly, and easily,” he said. “I managed to avoid coaching the soccer and basketball all these years.”

The team raised about $8,000 to build the robot, including buying a 3D printer. Part of the money came from the community, the other part from a Maryland State Department of Education robotics grant, Damazo said.

Everyone on the team has grown over the last three years, Damazo said. They started by spending a lot of time at competitions marveling at other teams’ robots. This year, people are coming to look at theirs, he said.

“We’re competing with the whole state at this high level now,” Damazo said. “I think it’s really great for the kids — for Brunswick.” Destination Imagination teams qualify for state tourney

On Saturday in Baltimore, 13 teams from Frederick County Public Schools will compete in the state competition for Destination Imagination. The competition, held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, challenges students to work together as teams on immediate problems, as well as complete long-term team projects.

The local teams qualified at the Western Region Destination Imagination Tournament held in Williamsport on March 16.

Teams traveling to the state competition include teams from Frederick Classical Charter School, Gov. Thomas Johnson Middle School, Green Valley Elementary School, Middletown Middle School, New Market Elementary School, New Market Middle School, Oakdale Elementary School, Oakdale Middle School, Urbana Elementary School and Windsor Knolls Middle School. Registration opens for FCC summer programs

Young people can now register for summer programs at Frederick Community College. The classes run each week from June 24 to Aug. 16 and are available with morning and afternoon sessions.

The classes this year are available to children up to 16 years old. Courses include How to Build a PC, Entrepreneurship for Teens and Tweens, Creative Drama, Calling All Future Authors and Video Game Design.