"The Little Red Brick Robot School Has a Winning Team

Starting in a garage and now based in Franklin’s very own Red Brick Schoolhouse, 4H ALARM Robotics is a community club which has been mentoring students in robotics since 2007. ALARM stands for ‘A Lot of Awesome Robot Makers’, an acronym suitable for the maker’s determination and drive shown in both mechanical, and software engineering, needed to create a robot. The team participates in FRC–-FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION run by FIRST(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

The FIRST Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. It’s dubbed a “varsity sport for the mind” and the theme this season was “Charged up”

The 4H ALARM team competes all over greater New England, exploring coopetition (competition and cooperation), excitement of STEM, along with the business challenges of operating a team. After the game kick-off in January, the students and mentors work tirelessly for over 20 hours every week for 12 weeks, to complete each year's challenge.

4H Alarm Robotics team competed in the Rhode Island District Event(RIDE) held at Ponaganset High School from March 10 -12 and won the Team Spirit Award. This award "celebrates extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork furthering the objectives of FIRST”.

Our robot, Pincocchio, is a 90 lbs robot programmed to place cubes and cones across the game field. Its name was inspired by its telescopic arm that extends to meticulously grab the pieces by the human player on the opposite side of the field. At the RIDE (Rhode Island District Event) the robot showed off its skills, by placing the cones on tiered poles and the cubes on shelfs. Much like any other sport, the goal is for the robots to score maximum points throughout the 2:30 minute game. At the end of each of the 3v3 matches, the teams have to balance on a “charging station” during the endgame; some alliances can fit all their team members on the unstable platform!

Throughout the 3-month building period, the team members learned machining, programming, CAD (Computer Aided Design), electronics and wiring, strategy, and game play. The team documented their work in an engineering notebook after each meeting. It recorded the day’s obstacles and accomplishments. During the team's judge interview at the competition, its contents highly fascinated the judges. In addition to apositive attitude, enthusiastic cheers and pom pom waving in the stands to encourage team members on the field; 4H ALARM proved its resilience to challenges and optimistic team nature. As a result at the end of the competition, the Franklin team won the Team Spirit Award at Regional High School Robotics competition.

"We were really proud our amazing Coach Jon Miller for being named the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award that celebrates outstanding coaches who have made tremendous contributions to the field of FIRST."

The team's next competition was at Worcester Polytechnic Institute from March 10th to 12. ALARM robotics did really well and finished in the top 24. We didn’t make it ahead, but we had an excellent competition and a terrific season. Students learned a lot of skills this season, and from the game, and have already planned the off season. ALARM Robotics will be back stronger next season.

ALARM Robotics invites students from neighboring communities to join their team and will conduct an open house on Saturday, June 17th at the Red Brick School House from 10-1pm.

Students participating in FIRST Robotics Competitions are eligible to apply for nearly $22 million in scholarships from more than 200 colleges and universities.