Archimedes Aces Shine at Southington Showdown Regional FLL Competition

The Country School’s Middle School robotics team, Archimedes Aces, demonstrated exceptional creativity and technical skills at the recent Southington Showdown Qualifier FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Robotics Competition, securing second place in the innovation project category with a groundbreaking solution addressing underwater unexploded ordnance. The Archimedes Aces will compete in the State Competition on December 14, 2024, in Glastonbury.

FIRST LEGO League guides youth through STEM learning and exploration at an early age. From Discover, to Explore, and then to Challenge, students understand the basics of STEM and apply their skills in an exciting competition while building habits of learning, confidence, and teamwork skills along the way. At the Southington Showdown Qualifier, First Lego League evaluated teams across three equally weighted components: Representation of core values (Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and Fun), performance of an engineered and programmed robot on a challenge course, and design and presentation of an innovation project related to the annual theme

Archimedes Aces’ success is the result of rigorous preparation since September, with students in 6th through 8th Grade dedicating multiple days each week to their project. Participating in this year's competition themed "Submerged," the team developed an innovative project featuring a soft-robotic bio-mimetic tentacle arm and a sonar robot designed to detect and collect unexploded munitions from World War I and World War II lake and sea beds.

In addition to their regular club time, the team benefitted from the knowledge and expertise of Dr. Robert Ballard and his daughter, alumna Emily Ballard ‘12. Among the most accomplished and well-known of the world's deep-sea explorers, Dr. Robert Ballard is best known for his historic discoveries of hydrothermal vents, the sunken R.M.S. Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck, and numerous other contemporary and ancient shipwrecks around the world. Following the initial virtual meeting with Dr. Ballard and Emily, Emily returned to her alma mater to speak to about her work on the E/V Nautilus and shared how robotics, especially, remotely operated vehicles, impact the research she and her father conduct.

While coaches  Ben Taylor, Joseph LaMacchia, Brett Merrill, and  Stephanie Johnson provided guidance throughout the team’s preparation, the project was fundamentally student-driven, showcasing the team's initiative and collaborative spirit. The coaches were particularly proud of the team's performance in the innovation project, praising the students' creativity and problem-solving skills. "This is my first year working with the team, and I was so impressed with their ingenuity and self-direction," said Coach Ben Taylor.

The Archimedes Aces continue the Country School's impressive robotics legacy, with teams from the school having advanced to the state competition for more than five consecutive years. Stephanie Johnson said, “These last few years and this year, it's been the creativity, dedication and poise with public speaking that the kids have put into the project component that have been the differentiators. They love building with Lego and are super capable with block coding, but it's how they step up confidently in the big moments on a larger stage that matters.”

This year’s team members include 8th Graders Lillian Clare of Madison, Will Cornell and Ava Kowalski of Killingworth, Kieran Freeman and Nathaniel Schultz of Guilford, 7th Graders Neil Parwani and Luke Reach of Guilford, and 6th Grader Kyle Jacobson of Killingworth.