Hingham High School is home to many unique clubs and extracurriculars. These after school activities let students pursue their interests beyond the boundaries of the school day. One of the many great extracurriculars Hingham High School has to offer is the Hingham High School Robotics Team.
The HHS Robotics Team, also known as the Hammerheads, competes in the annual FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST is an international competition for high school robotics, with 3,448 teams from 28 countries across the globe. The main initiative for FIRST robotics is to promote cooperation amongst team members to prepare the next generation of engineers and real-life problem solvers.
Each year, in early January, the FIRST Robotics organization announces the competition title and field elements that teams will construct their robot around. Past year’s themes have ranged from a “Crescendo” musical theme to “Charged Up” energy concept. This year’s theme is REEFSCAPE, centered around the ocean and related wildlife. The game designers try to incorporate this assigned theme into the various aspects of the game. For example, this year teams will use large green inflated rubber balls as “algae” that will be situated on purple coral-like structures in the center of the game field. Tori Dell, a junior and one of three captains for the team, states, “I like this year’s theme better than previous years because they really committed to the ocean theme, highlighted by the reef structure in the middle.” The competition organizers aim for a high-interest theme to promote creativity and outside-the-box thinking. Logan de Laar, also a junior and a captain of the team, agreed with Dell’s assessment, “It is going to be an interesting engineering challenge that will force us to work in areas we have not worked in before.”
This year, the Hammerheads are currently scheduled for two major competitions in March, one at University of Rhode Island and one at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Vi Palmer, a senior and a captain explains, “I’m most excited for the competition at WPI because it has always been a fun experience in the past and it is a great atmosphere for engineers and other likeminded people.” The weeks leading up to the competitions are intense, with hours-long build sessions scheduled to have a workable robot that is competition-ready. Win or lose, being able to problem solve and exercise resilience are some of the most important attributes that an engineer can possess and the HHS robotics team is ready for the challenge.
