HADLEY — Quickly moving across an enclosed playing field, a remote-controlled contraption, filled with gears and levers and other colorful parts, scoots over to a pile of lightweight boxes, scoops up two at a time and then neatly stacks them in columns.
When it finishes stacking 12 boxes — called glyphs — the machine turns to two golden plastic figures and grabs them with one of its arms and swiftly places them on a colorful square outside of the field.
The robot is controlled by a group of Hadley teenagers taking part in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Technical Challenge. The teens have been spending recent weeks practicing and honing their skills as well as the robot’s.
The students designed, built and tested the machine to compete in the game called Relic Recovery, which is run by FIRST, a Manchester, New Hampshire organization founded by Segway inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 to inspire young people interested in science and technology.
In local, state and regional competitions, Relic Recovery requires two teams to form an alliance against two other teams to have their creations stack the boxes, move the relics and handle other tasks.
The success of the nine-member Hadley team called Evolution Robotics in these challenges earned them a place among 128 teams invited to the world championship in Detroit, which will be held April 25 to 28.
“We’ve always done well, making the state tournament each of the first two years,” said Bob Cullen, the parent leader of the group.
For the past eight years, Cullen has coached the team, which began in elementary school and still has two of the original five members.
After being one of 32 teams participating in a tournament held in Natick, the team qualified for the super regional held at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, where 72 teams arrived from 14 states.
The team went undefeated in nine qualifying matches, losing only in the finals.
“Based on the performance there we were invited to the world championship in Detroit,” Cullen said.
In September, well before the competition, the students were given instructions on the type of robot they were to build from scratch.
“The game changes a lot every year,” Cullen said, so the competitors have many adjustments to make.
This year’s robot was to be no larger than 18 inches wide by 18 inches long by 18 inches tall.
“Our design process started with an initial brainstorming of what we wanted to accomplish,” said Kieran Cullen, a 14-year-old freshman at Hopkins Academy.
Understanding that speed and agility would be important, those elements were taken into account first on the designs created on a computer and later in acquiring the parts needed to assemble the robot.
Some of these parts can be bought off the shelf, like Mecanum wheels, which allow the robot to move in any direction at any point, or for the motors and drive train.
Other parts were manufactured through use of a 3-D printer, including the device that carries and lifts the boxes.
“Custom design of parts is very helpful in competition,” Kieran Cullen said.
Several revisions were made over the course of the project, especially in getting the robot to pick up the boxes at a faster clip.
“At first, the lift couldn’t deposit multiple glyphs at once,” said Alex Locher, 16, a junior at Hopkins.
“It worked, but it wasn’t efficient,” said Alvin Li, a 15-year-old Hopkins sophomore.
What they came up with was a sort of conveyer that could lift two boxes at a time. The lift was also reconfigured to be more compact and less bulky.
“Overall, it’s been made more effective and efficient,” Locher said.
Bobby Klesch, a 15-year-old freshman at Hopkins, said the team had one of the only robots that had a certain design called the “pass through,” allowing it to move the blocks more efficiently.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Klesch said.
Other elements of the robot include a game pad, android phone and wireless network to control its movements.
The students spent between $3,000 and $5,000 to build the robot, with much of the funding coming through sponsorships from local businesses and fundraisers.
The students who participate in FIRST said they appreciate the emphasis on what is described at the competition as “gracious professionalism.” Klesch said while it is a competition, the teams also cooperate with each other.
Cade Lanzafame, a 15-year-old freshman at Hopkins, said he sees the event as getting students interested in high-tech projects.
“The goal of FIRST is to get this generation involved in robotics and engineering,” Lanzafame said,
The team will be at the Helping Hearts for Hadley Schools road race Sunday to raise awareness and money for its trip. The team is also partnering with the University of Massachusetts College of Information and Computer Sciences for mentoring and financial support.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.