By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

The game – Lunacy. The goal – toss as many “moon rocks,” “empty cells” or “super cells” in to the opposing robot’s trailer. 

The result – balls flying through the air as two teams of robots moved around a 54-foot by 27-foot low friction playing field – simulating the surface of the moon – controlled by humans using wireless remotes on the sidelines. 

In their first year participating, the New School Robotics Team of Kennebunk had six weeks and a $3,500 limit for supplies to create a functioning robot for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 in Manchester, N. H.

Teacher Ross Kearney said the team focused on constructing a robot that would run and compete against other participating teams, and student Megg Gates said after four weeks, they had an operating machine.

 While Kearney said most teams spend the maximum $3,500, they only spent $100 in addition to the entrance fee. 

New School teacher Christine Knowles accompanied the team as a spectator and said other participant’s were “wowed” by their robot. 

“All the other teams were elaborately constructed and shiny,” Knowles said. “Ours was cobbled together with plywood and paint, but it was so simple that it was really impressive.”

They shipped their robot off to Manchester, N.H., the day after President’s Day, following their creation a week later to the 18^th annual competition, he said. 

Gates, her classmates Josh Combs, 15, and Jeremiah Gilkey, 16, and School Around Us student Will Eaton, 14, all played integral roles in entering the competition, constructing the robot and remotely controlling it in the arena, Kearney said. 

“With only four students [on the team] everybody had a role,” Kearney said.

“Ross [Kearney] was so excited about it,” Gates said. 

Her interest in participating stemmed from the artistic aspect, she said, designing the team T-shirts and painting the final product.

New School teacher and team mentor Nathan Maynard said with teams participating in the competition larger than the enrollment at the New School (35 students), even some subcommittees were bigger than their entire team.

“When you think ‘robotics competition,’ you don’t think about a large sporting event. You don’t think 6,000 spectators,” Kearney said. 

FIRST Marketing Program Manager Maureen Collins said nearly 1,700 teams compete in similar events worldwide, and while the basic guidelines – limiting size of each robot to two-feet by three-feet by five-feet and weighing less than 125 pounds  – have not changed, Collins said the game changes every year. 

“Lunacy” challenged teams to enable their robots to move along the “slippery” floor, Collins said and score goals against the opposing team while in motion.

While teams were scored depending on which type of ball they placed in the opposing team’s trailer, they were also judged in various categories, such as team spirit, volunteerism and creativity, Collins said. By the end of the two-day competition, the New School team came in 38^th out of 47 teams competing regionally, Kearney said. They received the Rookie All Star Award for their first year in competition and the Highest Rookie Seed Award for the best score among first year teams, Kearney said.

“It was pretty inspirational. We learned team building and engineering skills,” Gilkey said. “And we learned when something doesn’t go right we didn’t give up.” 

The team was one of six participating in the regional competition invited to the national competition in Atlanta, but Kearney said they declined the offer based on funding. 

“Unfortunately we’re unable to because we don’t know if we can get the money given the financial status of the school,” Kearney said.

The team received a $6,000 grant from BAE Systems, sponsor of FIRST Robotics, for the set-up kit and to attend the regional competition, but if they committed to the nationals and they were responsible for the $5,000 entry fee whether or not they made it to the competition, Kearney said. 

In the meantime, students at the New School will test their ability at “fun” competition hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts and have started brainstorming how to fund next year’s competition.