Project Y Robotics Team Members from left, Jason Pieck, Eliza Lamborn, Cinyoung Huang and Titus de Jong discuss their experiences on the Team with the Los Alamos Daily Post during a recent visit to their ‘bot shop’ in Pueblo Complex on Diamond Drive. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
Screwdriver in hand, Project Y Team Member Moroni Nelson at work on a piece of equipment recently in the ‘bot shop’ . Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
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By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com
The slogan of Project Y Team 4153 High School Robotics Team is “we build more than robots.” What more do they build?
“We’re teaching leadership skills,” Project Y Mentor Andy Erickson said. “Students lead the team and we support them. We’re also teaching teamwork. It’s like a sports team. It’s about competing—it’s a sport for the mind.”
Erickson became involved with Project Y when his son joined the first team in 2011. He became a mentor two years later. He is a mechanical engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory. There are eight mentors and 19 students in Project Y. They have room for more in both categories, Erickson said. Project Y is a school club at Los Alamos High School, but home schooled students are also welcome.
Jason Pieck is the CEO of the team. He’s been involved with the team all four years of his high school career. Pieck gave the Los Alamos Daily Post a tour of the robotics facility the team shares with other robotics teams for younger students at 1990 Diamond Dr. The area is divided into two parts, with the older students in one part and younger kids in the other. Los Alamos Public Schools donates use of the “bot shop” to the teams.
Pieck pointed out projects the team is working on.
“This is our parade bot,” he said, pointing at a large robot. “We use it for large events. We’re currently modifying the t-shirt cannon to make it easier to load.”
Pieck also pointed out two other projects. The first is a swerve drive that will allow the robot to turn in all directions. The second involves using a camera to identify a target. The camera “sees” remotely.
“We’re using these projects to train new students,” Pieck said. “We’ll start building our competition robot in January. Working on the projects will give us an edge.”
Project Y competes at grade level in the FIRST Robotics Competition. An international not-for-profit founded by accomplished inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs.
Boosted by a global support system of volunteers, educators and sponsors, which include more than 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, teams operate under a signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, build and showcase their achievements during annual challenges.
Project Y will receive a kit with basic parts in January. From there, it’s up to them.
“We have 2 to 3 months to design, build, program and learn to operate the robot, Pieck said. “We competed in the world competition three years ago.”
The 2020 competition was canceled at the very last minute due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the robot already built and ready to go, it was a huge disappointment for the team, he said.
Several of the Team Leads joined Pieck to talk about Project Y and their experiences: Programming Lead Phillip Ionkov, Outreach Lead Eliza Lamborn and Mechanical Design lead Cinyoung Huang. They were joined by Team Member Titus de Jong.
The leads are “veterans”, the most experienced team members. Their role is to educate students new to the team.
Some team members have been interested in robotics from a young age. Others got interested in middle or high school. Lamborn was recruited by a friend, and then she recruited Team Member Moroni Nelson. Ionikov learned about the team through his brother.
The students have varying interests and sometimes they discover that what they thought interested them isn’t their favorite in practice, Erickson said.
“I find it all interesting,” Ionkov said. “I like programming because you get to see how your program works in the real world, to run your robot.”
“I discovered that what I really like is designing,” Pieck said. “I want to study mechanical engineering.”
“I’m fascinated by the team work,” Huang said. “When we brain storm, people have all kinds of angles they use to approach the project.”
Lamborn agreed. “You form alliances with other teams during the contest,” she said. “You have to work out the strengths and weaknesses of the various teams. You have to work with people you’ve known for 10 minutes.”
One of three young women on the team, Lamborn remembered her mother’s story of being one of four women in a computer class of 200. Things have improved since then and need to improve more for women in STEM, she said. Yes, she’d like to see more girls on the team, but Lamborn said she’s really comfortable working with the guys.
“There’s no right answer to the challenge,” Erickson said. “The mentors don’t have an answer book. The contest challenges us to come up with engineering solutions. It’s an adage in engineering that you need to move rapidly to your first failure. Then you can get to the next try.”
Erickson doesn’t want students who haven’t done anything like this before to be discouraged from joining the team.
“We teach all the skills you need,” he said. “You usually start with building, then you’d move to helping with design, but we can tailor it to your interests. We also need students interested in graphic design, outreach.”
“Branding is important,” Ionkov said. “It builds team identity.”
The team’s name comes from the designation of the Manhattan Project as Project Y. One of the team’s slogans is “Y not?”
The team is grateful to its sponsors and contributors. Enterprise Bank was one of the first to get involved.
“They have been with us since the beginning,” Erickson said. “We couldn’t do this without the long-term support of the bank.”
“It is always a privilege to support organizations like the Project Y Team 4153, who provide educational outlets for our young people,” said Liddie Martinez, Enterprise Bank & Trust’s Los Alamos Region President and Director of Community Engagement. “Watching the kids demonstrate their robot’s capabilities and answer technical questions demonstrates their ability to problem solve while having a lot of fun! At Enterprise we value that entrepreneurial spirit!”
Contributions to the team have helped them purchase some cutting edge tech, such as a 3-D printer. Since they know that other teams in northern New Mexico may not have their resources, they practice “gracious professionalism,” Erickson said.
“Some teams can really help others,” he said. “We helped the Española and Santa Fe Teams get started.”
Pieck thanked the mentors of the team.
“Thanks to the mentors, we have a wide variety of skills to use in our professional life,” he said. “We’re building relationships and skills to last a lifetime!”
Project Y is hosting an Open House 5:30-7 p.m. today at their Diamond Drive location in Pueblo Complex.
The Open House will celebrate the team’s sponsors and raise awareness about the team for students and the general community. Everyone is welcome.
Visit Project Y Team 4153 at team4153.org to learn about contributing, volunteering and joining the team.
Scene from a recent visit to Project Y Team 4153 High School Robotics ‘bot shop’ in Pueblo Complex on Diamond Drive. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
Scene from a recent visit to Project Y Team 4153 High School Robotics ‘bot shop’ in Pueblo Complex on Diamond Drive. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
Scene from a recent visit to Project Y Team 4153 High School Robotics ‘bot shop’ in Pueblo Complex on Diamond Drive. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
Project Y Team 4153 Mentor Andy Erickson discusses the team’s work and mission during a recent interview at the ‘bot shop’ in Pueblo Complex on Diamond Drive. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
