Getting a smile from The North Face
<p>The 1980s Something Space Guys, a sixth-grade robotics team from the North Idaho STEM Charter Academy in Rathdrum, recently won the state contest at the University of Idaho and will be the only Idaho team to compete at the world contest in St. Louis in April. Team members are, from left, Alauna Davidson, Kyle McGee, Raegan Olsen, Julia Major and Marissa Wirig.</p>
<p>The Ice Cream Vendorz, an eighth-grade squad from North Idaho STEM Charter Academy, captured the second-highest award at the state contest. Team members include are, from left, Henry Schmick, Joel Sovereign (kneeling), Sam Lewis, Scott Callister, Levi Davidson and Justin Kugler.</p>
RATHDRUM - A local robotics team, Idaho's only squad to qualify for a world championship, has captured the attention of a trendy national outdoor sports gear firm.
The 1980s Something Space Guys, a sixth-grade team from the North Idaho STEM Charter Academy in Rathdrum, invented the "stretch pack," a waterproof backpack which will stretch to accommodate large textbooks and binders.
The North Face has agreed to create a prototype for the team to present at the world robotics contest in St. Louis in April.
"Sandwiching a layer of latex between two layers of spandex is an innovative way to address some of the biggest challenges faced by our pack designers every day," Austin Robbs, product manager for The North Face, wrote in an email to the team.
"It elegantly solves the need for compression/load management straps while adding the benefit of water resistance. It also opens the door to a lot of really interesting design aesthetics because the construction is drastically different from traditional packs."
Team members include Raegan Olsen, Alauna Davidson, Kyle McGee, Julia Major and Marissa Wirig. The coaches are Kyle and Rena Olmstead.
Robbs challenged the students to think about how the latex is attached to the pack. He wrote that each of the options, which include gluing, heat setting or sewing the material, has advantages and disadvantages.
"Keep in mind that this will have an effect on the final cost since there is more work associated, not just the cost of fabric," Robbs wrote.
The team won the Grand Champion award at the FIRST LEGO League Robotics state championship at the University of Idaho last month, earning the state's lone "Golden Ticket" to the world championship. It is raising funds for the trip and has created a website at http://the1980ssomethings.wix.com/space.
Another North Idaho STEM team, the Ice Cream Venderz, an eighth-grade squad, captured the second-highest award at the state contest. The team, coached by David Moon, included Justin Kugler, Scott Callister, Levi Davidson, Sam Lewis, Henry Schmick and Joel Sovereign.
The Ice Cream Venderz received an invitation to compete in June at LEGOLAND in California.
"We are very proud of all of our teams," said Scott Thomson, the school's executive director. "We are excited for them to go swim in a bigger pond and see what teams from around the world are doing. We know from last year that China and Brazil have very good robotics teams and we want our kids to be able to compete on a global level with those teams."
A total of 32 teams consisting of students in grades four through eight advanced to the state contest. The competition challenges students to research a real-world issue, present a challenge, then design, build and program an autonomous LEGO robot to accomplish missions.
Other Rathdrum teams that won awards included Team 2 with the Teamwork Award, and The Dark Knights with the Judges' Award for Valor.
Post Falls teams that earned awards were the Post Millenials with the Robot Design/Mechanical Award, Spectacular 6 with the Robot Design/Strategy and Innovation Award and Lego Warriors with the Gracious Professionalism Award.
Coeur d'Alene winners were the Sugar Shooters with the Project Research Award, Canfield Cougars with the Project Innovation Award and Procyon Lotor with the Robot Performance Award.