Ossining Robotics Team Advances to Semifinals after FIRST LEGO League Qualifier

The Anne M. Dorner Middle School “Robotics Wizards” team will advance to the semifinals after earning several awards at the Hudson Valley FIRST LEGO League qualifying tournament in Chappaqua Jan. 21.

The “Robotics Wizards” won first place for the team’s research project, third place for robot performance and third place overall. The semifinals will be held on Feb. 11 in Poughkeepsie.

The FIRST LEGO League’s annual competition includes three parts – a robot game, a research project and a requirement to develop team core values. This year’s research challenge, titled “Animal Allies,” required teams to identify a problem that occurs when people and animals interact and develop a solution to improve the relationship.

The AMD team tackled the problem of humans interfering with leatherback sea turtle habitats. Only one in 1,000 hatchlings survive until adulthood, in large part because of tourism, crowds and noise. The students proposed erecting tunnels, which they named Turtle Shell Tunnels, made of sound-proof, tinted Plexiglass. They would be set up during nesting season to allow the hatchlings to travel from the nest to the high tide line with little distraction.

For the robot competition, the team built and programmed LEGO MINDSTORMS robots to solve missions on the game board. The missions included delivering refrigerated food to animals, getting honey out of a beehive, and ensuring that a guide dog prevents a blind person from crossing a street when a vehicle drives by. The team included multiple sensors and different attachments to the robot to ensure the success of the missions. During the competition, the team had 2 minutes and 30 seconds to complete as many missions as possible.

Members of the AMD team started preparing for the competition last fall. They meet after school three days a week for two hours each day. Team members are William Curvan, Rebecca Galindo, Nathaniel Itty, Dylan Juan, Tyler Kaplan, Sofia Merladett, Matthew Mione, Sola Mori, Tanmay Singhal, and Janessa Yan. These dedicated and hardworking students are coached by technology teachers Jessica Zhinin and Amanda Maliszewski, and K.F. Etzold, an IBM retiree who volunteers to help the students.

Ossining Superintendent Raymond Sanchez said he is extremely proud of the team. “The students’ accomplishments show the value of hard work, creativity and teamwork,” he said. “We wish them much success as they continue to the FIRST LEGO League semifinals.”