Hank the Tank was one of the stars of the VEX robotic competition at Hall-Dale High School in Farmingdale Saturday as the Boothbay Region High School Seahawks robotics team played against more than 30 competitors. The competition, sponsored by VEX Robotics, a company that supplies schools with course curriculum and materials, was fierce, but in the end, the BRHS team had to concede. Cape Elizabeth middle and high schools won the overall contest. However, two members of the BRHS team, Tyler Field and Jonathan Rollins, will move on to the state robotics competition on Feb. 18 at Hampden Academy.

The VEX competition, titled Starburst, called for Red Alliance versus Blue Alliance teams to operate their robots on a field with a fence in the center of the field. Teams of three, using robots, pushed over, under, scooped up or dropped several large rubber stars that had been placed on top of the fence and to the backs of each field. The robots also had to move beanbag cubes to the opposing team’s field. The team with the fewest stars and cubes on its side when time was up won the round.

Thirty-four teams were whittled down to eight. For the final rounds, the remaining teams were allowed to choose members of teams that had been eliminated. Hampton picked BRHS to ally with them. “Tyler Field and Jonathan Rollins were chosen to be allies with two teams from Hampden Academy,” said Emily Higgins, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) instructor for the BRHS robotics class. “They came in second place as part of that group.” As a result, Rollins, Field, and their pushbot, Hank the Tank, go to the finals. 

The mad skills of Hank the Tank were critical during the competition. The box-shaped, sturdy pushbot, built and operated by Field and Rollins, scooted around the floor, shoveling stars underneath opponents’ fences, earning points for the BRHS allied-Hampton team, and winning a place in the finals.

Lisa Carbone, the mother of BRHS robotics team member Connor Demmons, credited the robotics class with helping her son find his future direction. “Robotics has really solidified his love of engineering,” she said. “Mrs. Higgins does a great job letting them be self-directed and setting them up to work as teams.”

Besides Demmons, Field and Rollins, the team consists of Hayden Brewer, Hailey Greenleaf, Max Hoecher, Kyle Ames, Jacob Brewer, Jay Hasch and Lovely Uberita. 

Higgins said she hoped to take the team to a competition at Lincoln Academy on Feb. 8. And later that month, during the state competition, Hank the Tank will ride again.