Yesterday was the NH State lego Robotics State Championship. 51 teams converged on Nashua South High School to compete in robot design, performance, project presentations and team skills. In the past I’ve shot a variety of teams as a freelance assignment for the Manchester Union Leader, but this year they passed on the event so I stuck with just 1 team. Team FUUSEion, a team from Exeter NH ( OK, my daughter JUST happens to be on the team!) came into the competition with a very hot robot and a track record of stunning successes at both regional and state competitions.
A variety of issues – a poor cable connection for instance – kept their score down – but not their spirits.
After struggling in the first two rounds they suddenly shot from 44th place to 4th place and earned a trip to the quarterfinals, but narrowly missed making the semis.
A humbling experience but a very full day of meeting new people, seeing some simply amazing robot and attachment designs, and having a blast.
Here’s a look at the day.
[caption id="attachment_76" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="The team sees their 3rd round score and reacts"]
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[caption id="attachment_86" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Gage and Haley listens to the judge during technical judging.Ben and Roan watch the robot do its work."]
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[caption id="attachment_84" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="The robot completes a set of complex tasks."]
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[caption id="attachment_83" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Nick and Ben present part of the project - a solution to drought and a way for apple orchards to conserve water."]
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[caption id="attachment_82" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Coach Jim samples some of Coach Miranda"]
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[caption id="attachment_81" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Ben "]
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[caption id="attachment_80" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Team members urge on the robot as it completes a task."]
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[caption id="attachment_79" align="aligncenter" width="399" caption="Eliza reacts after the team"]
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[caption id="attachment_78" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="The FUUSE robot - designed and programmed by the kids."]
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[caption id="attachment_77" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Joy at jumping from 44th place to 4th place"]
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[caption id="attachment_89" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Coach Jim"]
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[caption id="attachment_96" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Coach Miranda"]
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[caption id="attachment_90" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Coach Frank"]
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[caption id="attachment_87" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="The team joins hands before approaching the table."]
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[caption id="attachment_88" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Damon and Nick have a side conversation during the technical judging."]
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[caption id="attachment_91" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="In between rounds the team checks and fine tunes the robot in the pit area."]
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[caption id="attachment_92" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Gage and Damon watch the robot on the huge screen behind the tables."]
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[caption id="attachment_93" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Roger and Eliza hustle to change attachments"]
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[caption id="attachment_94" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Coach Frank gives a pointer to Ben"]
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[caption id="attachment_95" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Waiting for the results of the judges after a table round."]
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