At the regular business meeting on Monday night, Post 558 was honored with a robotics demonstration by two sixth grade Marshall school members of the 3 Roboteers FIRST® Team 57657. Josephine Reinke, Lia Cubero and co-coach Lori Peel told post members about the robotics team participation in various competitions and upcoming events, one of which is the WPI FLL US Open Event in Worcester, Mass., in June. At this event the team will be competing with 84 teams from around the world, representing 40 states and 10 different countries. The third member of the team, Raegan Thompson, was not able to attend the demonstration.
The team’s first competition was held at FLL Central Missouri Qualifier in Columbia, Mo., with 18 teams vying for advancement. During the event, the Roboteers received the First Place Champion’s Award, advancing them to the FIRST LEGO League Challenge Missouri Regional Championship in Wentzville, Mo.
The 3 Roboteers claimed the 1st Place Innovation Award at the championship for their project, the Honey Helper. The Honey Helper is a solar-powered float system designed to alert beekeepers with a red light when the food source needs to be replenished, reducing possible risk to bees and beekeepers by eliminating the need to open the hive as often.
During the new business session of the meeting a motion was made to donate $3,000 to the team to help send them to the event. On March 28 members of the post met with the team members at Northwest School and a presentation was made. After the presentation, the team members demonstrated other robotic items and explained to members how the pieces were made and programmed.