Whirling gears, plastic thuds and sighs of frustration. Boothbay Region High School’s basement robotics lab is loud, but it’s crunch time. There are only two weeks left for students to prepare for the regional competition that will determine which teams progress to states.  

This year’s VEX Robotics challenge, “High Stakes,” requires teams to pick and deposit a series of blue or red plastic rings onto mobile stakes. The teams can then move these stakes into different zones on the field to multiply their score value or decrease their opponent’s. There’s also an option to have their robot climb a 4-foot ladder for additional points at the end of the match. Half of the classroom’s space has been devoted to a recreated practice field. 

It’s precise work, more so than last year’s theme which focused on goal-scoring via catapulting or flywheeling. The evolving challenge is part of the appeal for some. 

“(This class is) just something completely different from what students usually do,” said co-teacher Kirsten Hanley. “They will fail. They will fail over and over, and they'll have to fix it. (But) there are so few classes where it's okay to fail.” 

The constant need to go back to the drawing board also encourages communication and team-building skills, which is essential considering how much redesigning happens. The prototype students begin with in the fall is never the same as the one they end with, says Hanley.

Sometimes this means starting fresh when things are coming down to the wire, like in the case of this year’s Team Rocket who scrapped their robot completely after the December competition. According to team member Thomas Babineau, they went from a pinch-and-pick-up style robot to a conveyor belt. The issue now is getting the multidirectional wheels to function properly.  

Babineau has been putting in extra hours after class to get the robot (Magneton) ready in time, but he doesn't mind too much. “I've always been a hands-on person,” he said. 

Another robotics devotee is junior Afton Warren-Burdin who's in his third year with the elective. “I just kept coming back, because the idea of winning, going to (the world competition) just sounds fun to me. We made the states every year, so we hope to make it the worlds some year.” 

His team, the Snail Syndicate, consists of his friends Sila Lehouillier and Chase Mansfield, plus their appropriately named robot Gary. Lehouillier and Mansfield are both first-timers to the class and have stuck with it, sometimes despite themselves.  

“It’s the people you're with. If you have friends that can be huge because you can team up and just have fun,” said Warren-Burdin.  

Teams will be competing on Feb. 8 in Monmouth.