TeraViks strike again

COEUR d'ALENE - The young innovators who comprise the Coeur d'Alene TeraViks are certainly going places - and so is their robot.

The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics team presented its newest robot, "Calvin," during a presentation Wednesday evening in a University of Idaho Coeur d'Alene classroom in Harbor Center. The TeraViks will be heading to Calgary, Alberta, to showcase their moving-and-stacking-robot in the Western Canada FIRST Robotics Competition, April 1-4.

"I'm very excited to show off the robot, to anyone who'd be willing to listen," said Coeur d'Alene High School junior Keaton Marschman, 17, who is the computer-aided design (CAD) captain of the build team. "I'm very excited to see how it performs in competition this year."

Every year, the FIRST competitions and robot requirements change. Last year, the teams had to create fully mobile robots that could catch, pass and throw balls to other 'bots while traversing a court. The TeraViks ranked high and earned the prestigious Innovation in Control Award for the 2014 'bot, celebrating its innovative control system. They're once again aiming high with this year's model and intend to advance to the world competition in St. Louis later in April.

"We have to pick up these 51-gallon totes and we stack them up to six high," explained co-captain and CHS junior Josh Wheeler, 17, who works on the drive and build teams.

"Part of the challenge is to put a recycling can on top and then put litter or a pool noodle inside of that, and that is the maximum points we can get," he said. "Then we put them on these long scoring platforms."

The team briefly showcased the different skills of the 2014 and 2015 'bots, gently releasing a giant red ball from last year's 'bot and using a bright yellow tote to demonstrate "Calvin's" mobility and stacking abilities. Josh said this year's creation has a few kinks to work out, but he's feeling pretty good about how well his team and the robot will perform, considering new designs and challenges.

"FIRST has a very imaginative imagination," he said. "They always think of new curveballs to throw."

Aside from the robotics demonstrations, TeraViks co-coach Julie Dryden of Coeur d'Alene presented a slideshow of photos and videos showing last year's Western Canada FIRST Robotics Competition as well as other community activities in which the TeraViks are active. The team recently got an extremely rare tour of the Da Vinci robot surgical arm at Kootenai Health.

"This was an amazing opportunity for these kids to see what they're learning here and what they can do in the future," Dryden said.

"Plus, the robotic techs from Da Vinci loved talking to the kids because they were talking the same language," added TeraViks mentor Marty Mueller of Gizmo-CDA. "It was really cool to have them talk back and forth."

CHS senior Tim Sonnen, 18, who works on the programming team, said he loves being a TeraVik "because we get to work together as a team for the common goal.

"I feel like that's really preparing me for what I'm going to do eventually, like after college in my career," he said. "It's also really fun to learn all the things through FIRST."

The teams build robots with kits and by cutting out the metal pieces, following blueprints and soldering pieces together. They program the robots by writing codes and they tweak the machines as much as they can before the 'bots are placed in bags that cannot be opened until the teams reach the tournaments. Students can spend hundreds of hours perfecting their robots, while also attending school, volunteering and working.

Keaton explained that creating a robot such as "Calvin" gives the TeraViks real-world experience with programming and engineering.

"I myself am planning on being an aerospace engineer, and this will help me a lot. If I could do the CAD work on an airplane, I could do a section of it," he said. "You learn the nuts and bolts of the trade."

Info: www.facebook.com/TeraViks, www.teraviks.org or www.usfirst.org