BIDDEFORD — On Saturday, 50 robotic teams from across the state will compete at Biddeford High School in the Maine State VEX Robotics Championship.

The teams will be vying for six spots in the VEX World Championships, held in Louisville, Kentucky, in April. The state competition will be held Biddeford High School Gymnasium, 20 Maplewood Ave. from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

This year’s competition theme is “In the Zone;” the competition is played on a 12 x 12-foot field. Alliances of two teams are randomly selected to play a 2-minute match. Each match begins with a 15 second autonomous mode, in which the robot follows commands pre-programmed by the students, followed by a 1 minute and 45 second “student driver” mode, through which the students navigate the robot on the course.

Robots must meet certain qualifications, such as size and weight limitations.

Teams in an alliance work together to try to score the most points. Points can be earned by stacking cones, scoring mobile goals in goal zones, creating the highest stack of cones and parking robots.

Among the contenders in Saturday’s competition are teams from Thornton Academy in Saco, Biddeford High School and Kennebunk High School.

Thornton Academy has been listed by the competition as one of the nine “Maine Teams to Watch,” having previously won a competition.

Thornton Academy’s team, Trojonix, is comprised of seniors Brandon Delisle and Carl Meserve.

The two have spent many hours creating a robot they’ve dubbed Phillip Trojinix Pinch Point, creating a robot that can navigate its way around a robotics course, pick up weighted cones and stack them.

The robot is programmed using a programming language called ROBOTC, said Carl, and is controlled through a handheld remote control. There’s been a lot of “trial and error” said Carl, while designing the robot, and Brandon agreed.

The two of them have spent much time working out the quirks, including using counterweights to balance out weight in the back to assure the machine doesn’t tip over when it lifts its arms and using rubber bands to support lifting.

“There are a lot of variables,” Carl said.

Like their opponents at Thornton, members of Biddeford High School teams Elm Street Vault and Tactical Nerds have dedicated numerous hours on their robots.

And like the students at the Saco school, the students at Biddeford say there’s a lot of trial and error involved in building the robot and working out the quirks before the competition.

“If your robot tips over, you’re out of the competition,” said junior Colby Frechette, a member of the Elm Street Vault Team.

Creating the robot takes creativity and problem-solving skills, said Colby. There are also times in the process you need to listen to your teammates and admit they may have a better idea than you, he said.

Junior Kolby Miller, a member of Tactical Nerds, added the process also takes ingenuity. Team mate sophomore Jacob McNeil said that it also takes patience, and the willingness to try a different approach when something doesn’t work out the first time.

The experience also builds collaboration and team work, said Colby. He said he does most of the programming, since that’s where his skills lie, and other members do other tasks based on their skill set.

Students also have to collaborate with people they’ve just met when teams pair up to form alliances at competitions, said Colby.  Kolby and Colby made it to the world competition last year and were paired up with a Chinese team. Due to the language barrier, they had to draw on white boards to get their message across to each other, they said.

Though the competitions are an all-day event, and may generate some nervousness, students say they enjoy taking part and being around other young people interested in robotics. Sophomore Alex Trueheart, a member of Tactical Nerds, said competitions are fun to participate in, but also an opportunity to learn and get ideas through watching other teams and their robots.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].