By Helga Abraham
A group of feisty girls from AMIT Kamah Junior and Senior High School have put the town of Yerucham on the map by winning the FTC (First Tech Challenge) National Robotics Competition and representing Israel at the world championship in St. Louis, Missouri.
As the girls entered their second year of robotics – in the first year they were part of the First Lego League (FLL) working purely with Legos – they decided they were skilled and cohesive enough to advance to the FTC league. The upgrade involved mastering metalwork, 3D printers, software programming, electronics, and more. Most of the team were not especially good at science and had joined the robotics team purely for fun. Co-captain Ori Shaul says that she was not at all technically minded but, once she got into robotics, she became addicted: “You don’t have to be good at maths or physics to be good at robotics; you need to like challenges.”
The decision to enter the First Tech Challenge was made by the team after studiously weighing the pros and cons, mirroring the team process of building their robot.
After weighing the options, in September 2015, the team decided to go ahead. They began by watching the FTC mission video and assembling the competition kit. This consisted of basic robot elements to which they could add parts and a model of the field and mountain on which their robot would conduct set missions: collecting debris, consisting of 50 blocks and 30 balls, and carrying out tasks as it climbed the mountain. The higher up the mountain the robot advanced, the more points it would collect. The entire game had to be completed in two-and-a-half minutes, with the robot working autonomously for the first 30 seconds.
Joining the team as mentors were Tzippi Avraham (31), Diana Moskvitin (19), Amihai BenArush (28), and Rachel Amar (17). “As mentors,“ says Tzippi, currently completing an MA in nuclear engineering, “we helped direct the girls, particularly with regard to deadlines. If I saw that the direction the team was going in was too lengthy, I pushed them in another direction. And I encouraged them not to give up and never to reject an idea.” In the process, Tzippi, whose family originally came from Cochin, in India, became a sort of soul mother to the team.
Not surprisingly, having studied science education and one of the founding members of Yerucham’s Science Center, school principal Shula Levi is a keen promoter of robotics for girls: “I think it is very important to encourage girls to take up science. They are often intimidated by the subject, especially the technical aspect, but they are just as intelligent as boys, and we need to give them every opportunity possible to develop their skills.”
Working in a room in an unused warehouse, a 15-minute walk from the school through the scorching desert heat, the team began to build the robot, which they called Moscow after mentor Diana Moskovitz. The girls split into three sub-teams, each with its own specialties such as building, programming, and media, but also overlapping in terms of tasks. Hallel Hazan: “I helped build and fine-tune the logistics.” Gil Erel: “I helped build, did media work, and developed strategy with our alliance teams.” Hadas Levi Hevroni: “I helped build and worked on the electronics.”
Throughout the process, the team was forced to tackle constant technical challenges and find quick solutions. For instance, to propel the robot they began first with two engines but discovered that these lacked power and control. Even adding two more engines was not enough. After numerous trials, they finally encoded the two additional engines to drive the front wheels and adjusted the rear wheels to ensure good traction. Then, to get the robot to the top of the mountain, one of the girl’s off-handedly joked, “Why not use a measuring tape?” It led to a brilliant solution. The tape was compact but could extend, and with a look at the end, it could pull the robot up to the high zone. Mentor Tzippi was impressed with the idea: “I found that with young students, there is no limit to their imagination.”
As the deadline to the date of the competition approached, the girls often worked into the small hours of the morning. Many times the out-of-towners missed their last bus home, and, like Noga Pomerants, who commutes to the school from Metar near Beersheba, would have to stay over with friends.
Word of the team’s work spread fast, and many distinguished visitors descended on Yerucham to watch the girls at work: President Rivlin, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Google’s head of marketing in Israel, and many others. Two mechanical engineering students from MIT even helped the team test the strength of their motors.
Then came The Day. Their robot finally ready, the team traveled to Ra’anana to take part in the FTC Competition against 16 other robotics teams from across the country. Twist was the only all-girls team in the competition. “It was like David and Goliath,” recalls Moriya, “all the other robots were bigger than ours.” But Moscow held her own. “We were the only team that got to the top of the mountain,” says Hallel proudly.
A few hitches were also inevitable. In the middle of one game, Moscow rolled over, but, fortunately, the girls’helped to roll her back, and Twist ended up with the highest score, winning the competition’s prestigious Inspire Award—the top prize awarded not only for performance excellence but also for community work and teamwork. “I was very proud of the girls, “says principal Shula Levi. “They began with nothing. They had no technical background whatsoever, but they decided to enter the competition, and each member of the team contributed her own expertise to the project. What was nice was the way they encouraged each other and were so determined to succeed.”
The community work associated with the FTC prize involved teaching robotics to local Bedouin children. Every Friday morning, five girls from the team joined mentor Dvir Warshavsky from the Science Center to drive to the Bedouin village of Rahme, carrying with them cartons of computers and Lego sets. In difficult conditions, at times with no electricity, they worked with a group of students aged 4-15. “It was very challenging,” recalls Moriya. “None of us spoke Arabic, and the Bedouin children did not speak Hebrew. Many had also never seen a computer before.” But, says Moriya, the group soon developed a common language—robotics.
Once the FTC competition was over, the girls had to quickly prepare for a week-long trip to the U.S. for the world robotics championship in St. Louis. During the three-day event, the team met and played with teams from all over the world. Recalls Gil, “The standard was very high…almost NASA level.” The team placed 40th out of 64 teams—no small feat in view of the fact that they competed against older and more experienced teams. Most of all, they were thrilled to represent Israel: “We were very proud to be Israeli. We took along lots of flags and everyone was welcoming,” says Gil.
Building a successful robot, winning the FTC competition, and traveling to the U.S. won the team members enormous kudos and also helped them develop personally, says mentor Tzippi. “I saw big changes in the team over the year: girls who were reticent at the start became much more open, social, and confident. They felt they were part of something special.”
Michael Biton, Yerucham’s dynamic mayor, expressed his admiration of the young team: “AMIT Kamah girls proved that religious girls in the Negev can lead the country in technology and science. The young leaders persevered, built an ingenious robot, excelled at teamwork and contributed to the community.”
Helga Abraham is a freelance writer and translator based in Jerusalem. She is a former radio producer with Kol Israel and CBC-Radio Canada.
