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Rookie team puts Ely in school robotics competition spotlight

Keith Vandervort
Posted 3/12/20

ELY – The Memorial High School robotics team, dubbed “Wolfbotics,” competed for the first time ever in the Arrowhead Robotics Coalition competition last weekend and came away with …

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Rookie team puts Ely in school robotics competition spotlight

Posted

ELY – The Memorial High School robotics team, dubbed “Wolfbotics,” competed for the first time ever in the Arrowhead Robotics Coalition competition last weekend and came away with the top awards for a rookie team.
In their first-ever attempt, “Wolfbotics” placed 18th among 64 teams from across the Midwest at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science) Robotics regional competition in Duluth last weekend. And, as the top rookie finisher, they were invited to the World Championship next month in Detroit.
Memorial School science teacher Bo DeRemee took on the challenge of developing the new extra-curricular activity for Ely students. “Our robot-building season started in January, and we had very little time to prepare,” he said. But with the help of fellow math teacher Molly Olson and parent Paul Kemnitz they fielded a team of enthusiastic students and got to work.
Donations from corporate sponsors from FIRST provided the $5,000 entry fee and the cost of the rookie kit, plus some other fees for the second year. “After that, we are on our own, and it will cost thousands of dollars,” DeRemee said. “This is one of the big hurdles we are up against. It’s a matter of funding.”
They faced other challenges in the competition. “We had three horrible first showings, not really knowing what we were doing, embarrassing ourselves with parts falling off our robot at one point, and walking away with our heads down,” he said.
“We finally figured out what our robot could do, and that was defense,” DeRemee said. “We probably had the quickest robot out there being that it was so light. We weren’t even close to the maximum weight limit and that allowed us to be extremely mobile. And we had great stability. Cameron Kienitz’s learning curve on driving that thing was remarkable.”
DeRemee noted that at one point, the crowd of hundreds, maybe thousands, of spectators could be heard chanting the name of the Ely robot, “8416,” as it “literally shut down” other top robots. “That was probably the highlight of the day. At one point Paul and Molly and I just stepped back and watched the kids do everything. We didn’t need to remind them, or show them, or advise them on what to do. They figured it out and plotted out their own strategy.”
While physics, strategy and teamwork were stressed, engineering played a big role in the competition. “They were engineering on the fly, literally fixing and repairing up to the last minute, and without testing because they were out of time,” he said. “It was quite amazing to watch them.”
Northeast Range School has had a robotics team for the last several years. “They really helped us out at the Duluth meet,” DeRemee said.
By being the top rookie team, Ely qualified for the Detroit competition event. “A lot of stars have to line up for that to happen,” he admitted. “The financial hurdles are significant.”
ISD 696 Superintendent Erik Erie praised the Wolfbotics team at the district school board meeting this week. “I don’t know if they can get to Detroit next month, but just qualifying for the World Championships is quite an honor for our school,” he said.