Bedford's Lego 'Mayhem'

Bedford Journal - December 16, 2004

Local teams make good at state tourney

"Mindstorms Mayhem," "The Munchkins" and the "McKelvie Dark Seers," three Bedford-based FIRST Lego League teams, each received awards at the New Hampshire State tournament last Saturday, Dec. 11, at Nashua High School North.

There were three preliminary rounds of competition with the robots, followed by the playoffs for the eight top scoring teams. Teams are also judged on their robot design, robot performance, research and teamwork.

Mindstorms Mayhem - including team member Nathan Streeter and coach Ken Streeter of Bedford - placed first in robot performance and earned the prestigious Director's Award for top honors across all judging categories. They are eligible to again represent New Hampshire at the international competition, held in conjunction with the U.S. FIRST Robotics Championship in Atlanta, scheduled for next spring.

The Munchkins received the second place Robust Programming Award for their exceptionally reliable programming. This was the second consecutive year that the team was recognized at the finals with a programming award. The Munchkins are a neighborhood team from Bedford, consisting of Stephanie Schaeberle, Roxanne Harmon, Kevin Walch, Adam Spiere and Spencer Frank, and coaches Beatrice Schaeberle and Dave Walch.

The McKelvie Dark Seers were awarded the scond place Innovative Solution Award for their work on the research project. The Dark Seers also won a Director's Award at their state qualification tournament last month. The Dark Seers are a team of 10 students - including Harrison Potter, Sean Callaghan, Kyle Soucy, Tommy Bain, Matt Silvia, Jonathan Kirsch, Nick Pierce, Devin Helmke, Craig Wojtkiewicz and Devon Cormack - from McKelvie Middle School.

Mindstorms Mayhem Coach Ken Streeter of Bedford and team members, from left, Nathan Streeter, David Schunemann, Victoria Umenhofer and Jean Marc Le Doux review a score sheet at the competition table after a performance by their robot.

The teams competed against 46 other teams from around the state to build and program a robot to solve nine missions.

Mindstorms Mayhem, comprised of homeschoolers from Bedford, Milford, Merrimack, Wilton, Hollis, and Lyndeborough, has been working since mid September, meeting several times each week, brainstorming and building in the basement of one of the families.

It was the team's third year in the competition, and the kids had to write their own programs, problem-solve and design a robot that could solve the year's challenges. Mindstorms Mayhem is one of several teams sponsored by BAE Systems.

The theme for this year's competition was "No Limits." The robot had to complete tasks that a disabled person might encounter, such as move a CD to a desk, put their ball in a basket, serve a tray of food, feed pets, open a gate, read the correct colored bus sign, push in chairs, bring a pair of glasses back to base and end with the robot on the top of some stairs. There was a time limit of two minutes, thirty seconds.

In addition to robot design each team presented a research project to a panel of judges. Mindstorms Mayhem partnered with the Milford Wadleigh Memorial Library Trustees to help make the library more accessible to people with disabilities. the team developed and distributed a brochure and instruction sheets for some software programs installed on the library computer that make using the computer easier for people who are visually impaired.

For more information on U.S. FIRST and FIRST Lego League, go to www.usfirst.org or www.firstlegoleague.org.