In the news

Andromeda One Team ready for Worlds, aiming for the stars

November 23rd, 2018 | Nashoba Valley Voice

The most popular extracurricular activity at Ayer Shirley Regional High School is not a sport, nor a performing art nor student government.

The Panthers’ robotics program is one of the most successful science clubs in the state, and have advanced to the World Championships every year of their existence.

The 5-year-old program, Andromeda One, has grown in membership and in success since its launch in the fall of 2013. Now 65 members strong, the club has garnered substantial sponsorship from several influential high-tech companies. Boston Scientific is a “platinum sponsor” that has supported Andromeda One (National club number, 4905) since its inception.

Participation in the program earns the members a varsity letter and prepares them for collegiate level engineering studies, according to head coach Christine Miska. “Seventy-eight percent of 4905 alumni are pursuing STEM in college,” she wrote, also touting a 94 percent retention rate.

The club begins in the fall, mostly by assigning duties; of both the students as well as the two dozen mentors who volunteer. The mentors, like the students, are of diverse backgrounds including one-third female and work as professionals in STEM. “No 3D printed parts are made by mentors,” Miska iterated. “Only the students design and print the components.”

The robots are loosely ideated in the fall but specific design does not happen until the “unveiling” in early January. The “unveiling” is when all the teams across the world learn at the same time what tasks their robots must perform. Andromeda One, along with all the participating clubs, then has six and a half weeks to design, build and master the operations of their creation. Last year’s robot, Galaktika, had to be redesigned after it weighed in above the 120-pound limit.

A two-month competition season begins, which is a series of brief and rotating partnerships with other teams, The “coopertition,” as it is referred to, features the satisfactory completion of an assigned task. Last year, the challenge was for the robots to lift, carry, maneuver and stack milk crates. All of the clubs are part of the international non-profit, FIRST (First Inspirational and Recognition of Science and Technology). FIRST is a Manchester, New Hampshire-based organization founded by Dean Kamen in 1989.

With nearly 40,000 teams worldwide, the parallel mission of FIRST is to teach “gracious professionalism” along with teamwork and engineering. Another area team, Chelmsford-based Merrimack Valley Robotics, has also advanced to the world championship in recent years.

The mentors are a vital cog in the machine. Bill Walter is an electrical engineer at Analog Devices who volunteers at Andromeda One

“I joined four years ago and it’s a blast,” he said. “I really like the challenge of trying to build a successful robot. It’s great to watch the kids do this stuff. It’s very rewarding. I would’ve loved having this when I was a kid.”

Sophomore Sean Doyle hopes to follow in the tracks of his older brother, Will, who piloted the Andromeda One team’s robot for four years. Will is currently a freshman at Yale, studying of course engineering. Their father Patrick is a long-time mentor. “Mentors are very valuable beyond the technical guidance,” said Miska, an electrical engineer at BAE. “They serve as role models. And, the more mentors we have, the more sponsors we get.”
Read more: http://www.nashobavalleyvoice.com/ayer_news/ci_32288523/andromeda-one-team-ready-worlds-aiming-stars#ixzz5eUVD4FSN

ASRHS robotics team wins Team Spirit Award

June 1, 2018 | Nashoba Valley Voice

“The robot performed great and the team won the Team Spirit Award trophy!” exclaimed team founder and coach Christine Miska after the competition. “This is our first award won at a World Championship event.”

AYER — Forty-nine members of Ayer Shirley Regional School District’s Andromeda One (FRC 4905) robotics team recently competed in the FIRST Robotics World Championships in Detroit. The team’s robot, Galaktika, was one of 640 from around the world to compete at Cobo Hall before an audience of an estimated 40,000.

This is what the judges had to say about the ASRSD robotics team: “This team’s inclusive approach embodies a spirit that has impacted thousands of people in their school and surrounding community. Their campaign to get a FIRST program in every school district in Massachusetts proves they are a shining star!”

Students attending the event went to seminars on leadership, STEM careers and “FIRST Like A Girl.” They also explored colleges and picked up promotional items from companies that are already recruiting them for their talents developed from their FIRST experience.

“While in Detroit, the team had the opportunity to explore the Ford Rouge Factory and the Ford Historical Museum,” said Miska. “The students had a blast and got to learn a lot about the history and historical artifacts of Detroit that they are reading about in school.

Thank you, Ayer Shirley Regional School District, for the continued support, and thank you, sponsors!”

Andromeda One sponsors include Boston Scientific, Schneider Electric, Analog Devices, the Ayer Shirley Education Foundation (ASEF), BAE Systems, ANSYS, Deloitte, SolidWorks, Pet Food Shop, HUB International, the Lura A. White Elementary School FLL Coaches, the Tyagi Family, the Miska Family, and Ferrite Microwave Technologies.

Although the FIRST robotics competition season has ended, Andromeda One has plans for a busy summer. Besides being at ShirleyFest on the Shirley Historic Town Common on June 9, and Pirone Park for the July 4 celebration on July 7, the team will be helping with the Nashoba Valley Unlimited sports program, the Boy Scouts, and the Ayer Public Library Summer Reading program.

Andromeda One is also sponsoring a fun STEM Week, July 16-20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Ayer Shirley Regional High School. This fun-filled week for students entering grades 4-8 in the fall, includes learning coding for LEGO Mindstorms and many other science and technology activities. The fee for the program is $175, and all proceeds go towards the robotics team.

Ayer Shirley’s Robotics Team Earns Award For Creativity

April 6, 2018 | Action Unlimited

Ayer Shirley Regional School District’s FIRST Robotics team Andromeda One (FRC 4905) had a successful competition at the North Shore New England District event in Reading, Mass. the weekend of March 16. The team qualified to become a third-place captain in the semi-finals and was the winner of the robot Creativity Award.

Upon presenting the award to the team, the judges’ representative read: “The team started with a creative idea and then followed through to bring that concept to reality. The team overcame challenges with weight limitations. Challenges were met with unique approaches to material. Additionally, the lifting actuators that were designed and implemented performed well on the field of battle.”

The lifting actuators are the ramps the team built to deploy and lift two other robots to the height considered to be a climb at the end of a match in this year’s competition. Andromeda One was the first robot in this year’s game to score a climb ranking point. In only its fifth year, the team has earned two Rookie All Star Awards, three District Chairman’s Awards, and both a Regional and District Engineering Inspiration Award. But this year was the first year that FRC 4905 was recognized for its robot design.

As FIRST originator Dean Kamen says, “Solving problems is what good inventing is all about.” Overcoming the problem of too much weight while maintaining the integrity of the ramps, the cube handlers, and the cube elevator–all necessary for competitive play in this year’s matches–certainly required some real problem-solving skills of the team.

Andromeda One’s next competition will be the April 11-14 New England District Championships at Boston University, where the team hopes further improvements to its robot and strategy will lead it to the World Championship in Detroit, Mich. at the end of the month.

You can follow FRC4905 on social media @FRC4905 and on the team’s website: https://andromedaone.wordpress.com.

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Ayer Shirley’s FRC 4905 Gets The World’s First Climb Ranking Point!

March 4, 2018 | Action Unlimited

At the Week Zero pre-season FIRST Robotics competition in Bedford, NH on February 17, the Ayer Shirley Regional School District’s robotics team achieved the first-ever ranking point climb of the season. The team, Andromeda One (FRC 4905), designed a robot with ramps to lift two other robots. Robot drivers at the event were Will Doyle and Alana Miska. Pictured, in foreground, are team members Will Schilp, Eric Gravelle, Alana Miska, and Ryan Kilcommins. A video of the moment can be viewed at: https://clips.twitch.tv/SassyHeartlessHeronPanicBasket.

Ayer Shirley Regional School District’s (FRC 4905) robotics team members Will Doyle, Alana Miska, and Eric Gravelle celebrate their robot’s achievement of scoring the first-ever ranking point climb of the 2018 FIRST Robotics Competition. The feat was performed at the Week Zero pre-season FIRST Robotics Competition in Bedford, NH on February 17.

Ayer Shirley Regional School District’s Andromeda One (FRC 4905) robot at the FIRST Robotics Week Zero pre-season competition in Bedford, NH after achieving the first-ever ranking point climb in this year’s competition. Andromeda One’s first official New England District qualifying event of the season will take place March 1-3 at WPI Harrington Auditorium in Worcester. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit Facebook.

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Ayer Shirley seeks to be robot overlords

February 9, 2018 | Nashoba Publishing

AYER — On January 6, the 80-plus members of Ayer Shirley’s FIRST Robotics team packed their high school STEM room for the livestream reveal of the 2018 challenge for the international FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

Yes, you read that correctly — over 80 members. Ayer Shirley Regional High School’s FIRST team, Andromeda One (FRC 4905), grew exponentially this year, with the addition of nearly two-dozen freshmen and seven mentors. The growth was thanks, in part, to a first-time “Just for Girls” night last fall that garnered 12 new inquisitive, fun, and enthusiastic students plus three new mentors.

As all fourscore students and mentors watched and listened intently, the FIRST 2018 “big reveal” video introducing the game, for which Andromeda One and over 4,000 other teams must build a robot, began dropping clues about a retro world in which teams are trapped in an 8-bit video game.

On a playing field complete with a five-foot-high scale, two power switches, two portals, an exchange and a vault, FIRST teams must use crate-sized power cubes to defeat “the boss,” the video divulged.

Robots of each three-team alliance must collect and deliver the power cubes to tip the scale in their favor. Teams will also exchange power cubes for “power ups”–force, boost, and levitate– which provide a timed advantage during the match.

At the end of the game, alliance robots will work together to climb the scale tower to face the boss.

After the video, Will Doyle, a senior who joined the team in his sophomore year, was fired up.

“This is the year!,” he exclaimed after learning the challenge. “The team is so young, but the freshmen are picking up some huge roles. Super excited for this season!”

It is not uncommon to find Doyle–who last year was a Dean’s List Finalist competing at the World Championship games for his outstanding leadership abilities and passion for FIRST–literally jumping up and down when he gets an idea or solves an engineering problem.

Andromeda One has a total of just six weeks to build and perfect its game-playing robot, so on day one the team immediately began poring over the rulebook and sharing what they learned. By the second day, the team was prototyping various robot subsystems such as collectors, grippers, and drive bases.

“It was amazing to see these students, many of them new to the team, just jump right in, working with student team leaders and adult mentors to design and build working models,” said new mentor Dina Samfield. “The team spent its first few months of the school year holding design team workshops and business meetings, and by January 6 they couldn’t have been more ready.”

Besides collaborating as a team, Andromeda One also mentors other FIRST teams and has launched an ambitious initiative called MassFIRST, the aim of which is bringing FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) programs into every school district in the state.

The campaign is focused on FIRST Lego League, the entry-level start of the FIRST program. The idea is that this early programming will lead to an increase in student demand for more STEM opportunities.

Last November, several MassFIRST teammates attended the Massachusetts STEM Summit at the DCU Center in Worcester. There, they met Mass. Executive Office of Education Assistant Secretary for Career Education Bob LePage, with whom they discussed their plans for expanding FIRST robotics statewide.

“There are 71 towns in Massachusetts without a FIRST robotics program in their public school districts, and we’d like to get that number down to zero,” explained Andromeda One assistant coach and mentor Maureen Kilcommins. “Over time, these programs will grow to middle and high schools, creating a technology education pipeline from grades K-12.”

LePage concurred, and at the end of December he visited the students at their high school to discuss grant options for funding new elementary school-level teams.

“The work the team is doing is providing them a rich applied learning experience that includes not just advanced technical skills, but also essential skills in organizing, planning, communication and teamwork–skills that are highly valued by employers,” said LePage after his visit. “The students will have excellent college and career opportunities in the Commonwealth’s growing innovation and STEM economy.”

“I really want to thank him for giving us a ton of advice to help get our mission to the next level,” said MassFIRST team member Ariel Velasquez after meeting with LePage.

Learn more about Andromeda One and its many generous sponsors at http://www.andromedaone.wordpress.com, and on social media @frc4905.

A robotics team in every school? Ayer Shirley students bring dream to governor

January 28, 2016 | By M.E. Jones, Correspondent, Nashoba Valley Voice

AYER — The Ayer Shirley Regional High School FIRST Robotics Team has launched an original initiative called MASSFIRST, the aim of which is to introduce FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) programs in school districts statewide.

If the MASSFIRST goal is accomplished, every public elementary school in Massachusetts will have a Lego League, which is the entry-level start of the FIRST program.

MASSFIRST is not only an unique undertaking, said Ayer Shirley head coach Christine Miska; it also creates a dual mission for the team, which is simultaneously working on the competitive project that is the focal point of the FIRST Robotics program at the high school level.

The FIRST Robotics process is complex as well as competitive and includes developing a game plan, strategy and defensive play, with goals and objectives spelled out in the game manual.

“That’s the level we’re at,” Miska explained during a Sunday morning session at the high school. “How to get to finals.”

Add MASSFIRST and it’s an ambitious agenda, Miska acknowledged, but the campaign is off to an auspicious start, having already caught the attention of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker.

Founded by entrepreneur and Segway inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST is a nationwide movement that kicks in when kids start school with Lego League Jr. (grades K-3) Lego Leagues (for grades 4-8) and proceeds to the Tech Challenge and Robotics Competition at the middle and high school levels.

These innovative after-school programs, typically with no public funds and as all-volunteer efforts, are aimed at sparking kids’ interest in science and technology, ultimately peopling the future high tech work force with capable hands and creative minds.

This includes the members of the Ayer Shirley FIRST Robotics Team. The team, now in its third year, meets frequently, including weekends, with its members, mentors and coaches, devoting many hours during the academic year to planning, designing and building the project they will take to this year’s competitions. The team is a family affair for Miska, an engineer at BAE Systems whose two kids and husband, an electrician, are all on board. With 45 student members and 28 adults, she pointed out that the Ayer Shirley volunteer component is extremely encouraging.

“It’s a real community effort,” she said. And the students are motivated and enthusiastic. Some seem to have found their niche, if not their future calling, in this unique extracurricular activity, she said, noting how the program brings out leadership qualities and hones skills in other areas such as business acumen and public speaking.

Last year’s team won awards with its entry: Andromeda One, a robotic heavy-lifter that, when mounted on a wheeled cart, can be driven around to pick up and move large items, from luggage to trash barrels.

“They really worked hard,” said team mentor Maureen Kilcommins, who showed a visitor the finished product, now stored in an anteroom and minus its conveyance.

The current team hasn’t settled on a project yet and is still at the brainstorming stage.

At the recent Sunday morning meeting, members broke into sub-groups to talk strategy. One was devoted to the MASSFIRST initiative, Miska said.

While mapping out a MASSFIRST plan, (before the team came up with a name for it,) one challenge the group faced was identifying which school systems across the state do or don’t have FIRST programs now, Miska said, although they knew that 40 percent of Massachusetts communities do not. Next would be outreach, who to talk to, how to get the message across and engage others.

“They love it and want everyone to have the opportunity” to participate, she explained. After concluding that a piecemeal approach could be problematic, they sought large group venues to spread the word instead, including the Mass Superintendents Association Conference and at the STEM summit in Worcester, where the idea of becoming the first state to have FIRST programs in every public school system piqued the governor’s interest. Given a brief presentation window, team members had a chance to expand when Baker stepped out to talk to them, Miska said.

“Tell me about it, I’d like to know more,” he said.

Which they did, in a recent visit to the statehouse. Additionally, Blair Brown is scheduled to come to the school, Miska said, which will hopefully provide a boost for the team’s MASSFIRST campaign.

Explaining why they’d chosen to pitch Lego Leagues statewide, Miska said they are the least expensive of all the FIRST programs to launch. Any interested adult can be a mentor and there’s no pricey equipment to buy. A couple of basic Lego sets pretty much the only materials required to get started. By comparison, a robotics project takes serious investment and teams must include fundraising in their overall plan, said Miska.

Donations from local businesses have been a huge help, she said, along with grants from non-profits such as the Ayer Shirley Education Foundation. ASEF’s Maureen Kilcommins is one of the team’s mentors.

“We’re also grateful to ASRSD Superintendent Mary Malone for her support,” she said.

A strong science and technology proponent, Malone has added classes to the curriculum as part of a STEM pathway, Miska said. Although Malone could not find money in the school budget for the FIRST Robotics Team, she found other ways to help, such as allowing the team to meet at the school after hours and on weekends without incurring the cost of a custodian.

Some team members now coach elementary school Lego Leagues, Miska said. She mentioned a young man, a high school weight lifter, who works with fourth and fifth graders at Page Hilltop, across the way. And one quiet young women coaches kids at Lura A. White School in Shirley.

“It taught her she could be a leader,” Miska said.

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Chairman’s Award for robotics team ‘pretty awesome’

March 20, 2015 | By Jon Bishop, jbishop@nashobapub.com, Nashoba Publishing

AYER — The Ayer Shirley FIRST Robotics team, AndromedaOne, is now the proud recipient of FIRST’s most prestigious honor: the Chairman’s Award. They won it at the New England District Reading competition.

“We were really psyched about that,” said Christine Miska, the team coach. “That was a big deal.”

AndromedaOne, which won the Rookie All-Star Award last year, had the Chairman’s Award in its sights all year.

“I told them that was the team goal,” Miska said.

And the competition for it was tougher: They were “mixed in with all the teams who have been doing this for years.”

What’s important about the award is that it says Ayer Shirley has had a big impact on the community.

“It’s hard to get that in a second year,” Miska said. “Usually, you need to have many years,” adding that “it was a big goal, and the fact that we were awarded that in the second year was pretty awesome.”

Maureen Kilcommins, who is also involved with AndromedaOne, said that it was “very nice to be sitting in the stands” when the Chairman’s Award got announced, because you could see the kids start to sit up straighter. Miska said the same. When the students figured out during the introduction that they were the ones who won the award, they started to cheer.

And AndromedaOne was able to spread the wealth.

The Westford-based team they mentored, StormGears, won Rookie All-Star.

“We helped them through the year, through the season, and it was an extra bonus that they won their Rookie All-Star,” Miska said. “We helped them do that.”

According to Miska, because the team won the Chairman’s Award, they automatically qualified for the New England Championship, which will take place at WPI on April 9, 10, 11. And if they win that, they’ll head to the World Championship in St. Louis, which will be from April 23 to April 26.

Their robot, which is named Andromeda Squared and nicknamed Spock, has also been performing well. During the Nashua Competition, the robot placed 4th out of 40, and, in Reading, it was 2nd out of 40.

And an interesting tidbit about its name: The date of the Nashua competition was when Leonard Nimoy died.

According to Miska, the robot is 6’2″. And Kilcommins said that each year, teams have to build new robots.

“This year, the robot had to be able to pick things up. It had to be able to stack crates. Last year, it had to be able to throw a ball,” she said.

The following are some of AndromedaOne’s sponsors: Boston Scientific, NASA, the Ayer Shirley Educational Foundation, Consigli Construction, Dore & Whittier, Lucia’s Tavola, BAE Systems, ECI Technologies, Symmes Maini & McKee, Ayer Moving & Storage, and Home Depot.

There are about 40 students on the team.

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FIRST Robotics in action!

February 27, 2015 | By Nashoba Publishing

After six weeks of planning, programming, building and strategizing the ASRSD’s robot, Andromeda2 is ready to compete.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when two teams of 120-pound remote-controlled robots go head to head in a fast paced game of skill and strategy now is your chance!

Ayer Shirley’s team will be participating in the Granite State FIRST Robotics District event Feb. 27-28 at South Nashua High School and at the North Shore District Competition at Reading High School on March 7-8. These events are free and open to the public.

For information go to https://www.facebook.com/ayershirley1st.

Come cheer for the team as they participate in “Recycle Rush” presented by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Founded by Segway inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST gives students a real-world engineering experience while encouraging collaboration and sportsmanship.

The Ayer Shirley Regional High School team would like to thank its lead sponsors: Boston Scientific, NASA, Ayer Shirley Education Foundation, BAE Systems Inc., Consigli Construction Corporation, Dore & Whittier Management Partners, ECI Technologies LLC, Symmes Maini & McKee Associates and Lucia’s Tavola.

The team has also received generous support from the local community and we are proud to be representing Closets by Design, Ayer Moving & Storage, TAG Heating & Cooling, Solidworks, GitHub, Bemis, Home Depot (Leominster), IMEC, and MagneMotion.

Read more: http://www.nashobapublishing.com/letters/ci_27609532/first-robotics-action?source=rss#ixzz3V3iYHqgs

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Who’s on FIRST for Ayer-Shirley?

February 8, 2015 | By The Lowell Sun

Nick Martone, a student at Ayer-Shirley Regional High School and a member of the school’s FIRST Robotics team, gets to work building this year’s robot in time for this year’s FIRST challenge, “Recycle Rush.” Competitions begin in March.

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/news/ci_27485431/whos-first-ayer-shirley#ixzz3digtd1iR