Girls Robotics Team Raising Funds To Attend Championship Competition

Eight eighth grade robotics students, better known as Control+Alt+Delete made history this month after being chosen as the first robotics team ever to represent the state of Georgia in the FLL World Open Championship in the United Kingdom next month.

In order to honor this historic invitation, the team of #GoGetterGirls needs to raise $25,000 before June 7. Secure, tax-deductible online donations can be made by clicking HERE to mailing a check to: Fulton Science Academy Private School, Office of Advancement, 3035 Fanfare Way, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

The fact Georgia chose an all-female team as it's first group ever to represent the state is especially noteworthy given the ongoing gender gap in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) careers. In fact, according to a 2016 report by the National Science Foundation, less than one quarter of current STEAM careers are filled by women; even more alarming, minority women comprise fewer than 1 in 10 employed scientists and engineers.

Team Control+Alt+Delete is one of more than 32,000 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams to compete in robotics competitions annually. The program tasks students in more than 80 countries to think like scientists and engineers. Winning teams ascend to tournaments of increasing levels of competitiveness, with the World Championships being one of the most desirable destinations.

FLL’s theme for this year is "ANIMAL ALLIES." Competing teams must choose and solve a real-world problem, as well as propose a solution to this problem using an animal. Detailed research, presentation materials, prototype creation are all necessary ingredients to achieving top awards.

Students were also required to build, test, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology. The robot was programmed to solve a set of missions during the competition’s timed Robot Challenge. Missions varied in difficulty depending upon the operating team.

Control+Alt+Delete decided to tackle this year’s FLL challenge by researching a more natural way to eliminate mosquitos without using pesticides. Pesticides have been linked to adverse health effects including brain tumors (PubMed.gov), so the young ladies wanted to identify an alternate to harmful chemicals. Through their research, team members learned that bats are a natural remedy and that they can eat up to five thousand mosquitoes each night. Also, the girls learned that bats are somewhat easy to attract, so they pursued this concept in more detail.

In conjunction with FLL’s requirements, Team Control+Alt+Delete constructed a bat house using a 3D printer, engineering and programming. The bat house included a vent can that will open or close based upon the temperature because bats are affected by temperature. If the exterior temperatures rise above 65ºF, the vent is programmed to open (allowing air circulation and an increased likelihood that bats will visit), but if temperatures drop below 65ºF, the vent is programmed to close. These variations allow bats to remain inside and stay warm; the bat house can be placed in larger areas where there is a high volume of pesky mosquitos.

Along with the bat house, members of Control+Alt+Delete also created a smaller, separate mosquito trap using carbon dioxide and LED lights. The combination of these materials will attract mosquitos towards a fan that sucks them into the enclosure. The entire project was detailed in an impressive engineering notebook, and team members used this log, as well as their designs, when presenting their work to numerous judging panels.

The team also didn’t cut any corners on the robot challenge. The ladies built a strong robot tasked with accomplishing the most difficult missions possible within a set timeframe. Throughout their experience, the ladies had to operate under FLL’s signature set of Core Values, celebrating discovery, teamwork, and Gracious Professionalism®.

Hard work is no stranger to Control+Alt+Delete. In addition to maintaining rigorous course loads, team members spend an average of ten hours weekly working on their team, one with a very special name.

“We chose the name, Control+Alt+Delete for a very special reason,” said team member, Manasvi Gaddam. “Much the same way a person needs to hit all three keys (Control+Alt+Delete) in unison on a keyboard to reboot a computer, so too do we rely upon the skills and talents of ALL of our team members working in unison to perform at our fullest potential."

The International Open Championship will be held at the University of Bath, Bath, UK, June 21-25, 2017. Contributions to support the team, including corporate sponsorships, can be made by logging onto https://donate.fultonscienceacademy.org/robotics

About Fulton Science Academy

Fulton Science Academy Private School (FSAPS) has fostered a “yearn to learn” culture where students embrace an innovative, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) curriculum. FSA’s study body (Pre-K through high school) is diverse and reflects award-winning academic teams, competitive athletes, personal entrepreneurs, professional working actors, and award-winning critical thinkers. Built upon core values of excellence, innovation, and character, FSAPS has engineered a school of tomorrow, today. For more information, please visit http://www.fultonscienceacademy.

*(Portions of this release were reprinted from https://ngcproject.org/statistics and http://www.techinsider.com)