AUGUSTA — Boys and girls from across Maine converged on the Augusta Civic Center Dec. 8 for an intense day of robotics competition at the 13th annual FIRST Lego League state championship. More than 500 kids, ages 9 to14, brought this year's themed challenge of "Senior Solutions" to life in a high energy environment that was the place to be that weekend for anyone interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

A rookie team, who call themselves the Storm Troopers, comprised of Camden-Rockport Middle School students, got the opportunity to test their skills at the event. Team members Michael Belley, 11, Adam Bifulco, 12, Bryce Carlson, 11, John Chilton, 12, and Ivan Gushee, 11, achieved a very respectable score of 260 points, which put them in a three-way tie for fourth place in a field of 64 teams.

The competition had three primary and various secondary components, with the primary being competition, project and core values.

• Competition – Teams make three attempts (150 seconds per attempt) to accumulate points for completing specific missions on a 4-foot by 8-foot playing field.

• Project – Involves researching, developing a solution to a problem and making a formal presentation to a panel of judges.

• Core Values – Through the event, teams were observed and evaluated for adoption of the FLL trademark values:

- We are a team.
- We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
- We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together.
- We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
- What we discover is more important than what we win.
- We share our experiences with others.
- We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
- We have FUN!

Secondary areas like knowledge of the rules, a surprise teamwork challenge, technical evaluation of their robot, programs and t-shirt design were also part of the activities on Saturday. Points were accumulated and contributed toward a variety of awards.

During the competition phase, the Storm Troopers autonomous robot exhibited a unique balance of practical design features and efficient programs. Combined with excellent teamwork, their results were nothing less than impressive to the estimated 1,200 spectators, parents and coaches at the Civic Center.

The team partnered with Quarry Hill Retirement Community residents for the project portion of the challenge. A field trip to Quarry Hill, interviews with residents, research and the creativity of the team members led ultimately to their "senior solution," which they called the Door Buddy, a mechanized door answering system that incorporates modern technology. They presented this to the judges in both a formal presentation and a theatrical skit where they simulated the application of their invention.

As an aside, the word STORM in the team's name is a twist the team members put on the popular acronym STEM and stands for Science - Technology - Organization of Robotics - Mathematics.

Erma Colvin, who leads the after school Camden-Rockport Middle School Robotics Club, and parent Scott Carlson shared a mutual interest in fielding a team this year and put together the prototype program. Starting in late September and supported by parents and donations from local businesses, the two coached the group at Carlson's home, where a spare room was converted into a robotics laboratory.

"It was a steep learning curve for everyone, but the youngsters really accepted the challenge, met as frequently as their busy schedules permitted and had lots of fun along the way," said Carlson in a press release. "Their results speak for themselves."

It is the hope of the coaches, parents and team members that the success of the Storm Troopers will bring attention to the FLL and inspire more school and community robotics programs for local students who are interested in STEM. The investment is modest to small, but the return is priceless, according to Carlson. In the words of FLL founder Dean Kamen, "The only difference between this sport and all the others is every kid on our teams can go pro. There's a job out there for every one of these kids."

FIRST LEGO League is a robotics program for 9 to 14 year olds, which is designed to get children excited about science and technology, and to teach them valuable employment and life skills.

For more information about the event, as well as state and national robotics programs, visit www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll and www.mainerobotics.org/fll.