First competition brings measured success for Norwalk robotics team

NORWALK — It wasn’t the ideal ending the Norwalk Cybears Robotics Team might have wished for, but the final results of the team’s first competition this weekend in Waterbury belie the strides made by the group since last season.

Out of 41 teams competing in the First Robotics Competition event, the Cybears placed 36, starting strong in their opening matches but then faltering as their robot experienced a failed engine that inhibited movement on the machine’s left side.

It’s a finish that might seem lackluster to the outside observer. But for a team that four months ago had no space in which to build its robot, and last year had only occasional access in the lead-up to competition to a room in the basement of Norwalk High School, it’s an exciting step forward.

“The competition in Waterbury was a really good experience for all of us, considering a lot of the team is really new and they don’t know what to expect,” said Erik Criollo, a senior at the Norwalk Early College Academy.

“Overall, we did a lot better this competition than we did last year,” said Julia Turek, Cybear co-captain and a fellow NECA senior. “I think maybe even the next competition we’ll do a lot better.”

During the season — which starts in January when teams are issued their First Robotics challenge and pick up their respective “kits,” then allows several months for building — are not allowed to make changes to their robots. However, at the beginning of each event teams are allotted time to make repairs before matches begin.

According to Criollo and Turek, the fix to the motor is minor and should only take a few hours to repair. Plus, the veterans on the team have experience in making quick changes on the fly, as often worse mechanical failures were commonplace last season.

“We just didn’t have the money to invest in quality parts and we didn’t have enough time to work on building the robot,” Turek said.

This year, the team was offered a spacious unit at 25 Van Zant St., where they can work rent free — they do have to pay utilities — for the season, courtesy of property owner Winthrop E. Baum, after a several-month search. The Cybears have also received donations from Wilton-based ASML, and team members have been successful in fundraising independently.

The result is that the team could build a second, “practice” robot, that they can use during the season while their competition robot is off limits.

Also, as opposed to the basement space at Norwalk High School that they occupied last season, which they could access only three or four days a week, they are virtually no restrictions on their access to the Van Zant Street space.

The result of more funding and a better space, is a more structurally sound robot and substantially more time for the team to practice.

“We have a more reliable robot this year. Last year we had to fix it all the time. This year it’s more sturdy, there are less mechanical issues,” said Fred Karlehag, a parent organizer whose son, Mattias, started the club two years ago.

Criollo, Karlehag and Turek were all cautiously optimistic that the group will be able to build on its experience this weekend as it readies for its second competition, April 5 through 7, in Hartford.

“Now they know what to do, and a lot of the bugs will hopefully be ironed out from this competition,” Karlehag said.