Skagway’s middle school robotics team is heading to the State Championships

Skagway’s middle school robotics team will be heading to the State Championships next month after taking first in their regional tournament. The tournaments aren’t only about robots. The team also developed a unique solution for cargo damage that they’re looking to patent. 

Lego Robotics meets include multiple categories like an innovation project, robot design using only Lego-made materials, robot games, and core values like inclusion and teamwork. Skagway’s team of six and seventh graders, named the Cargo Crocs, won the Grand Championship prize and took first in the robot performance category.

One of the competition’s categories, the innovation project, has led the team to develop a cargo damage solution that could have global applications. They’ve also identified a way to reduce drag on cargo ships making them more fuel-efficient.

This week the team put their idea in writing and had it notarized. One of the team’s co-coaches Mary McCaffrey Thole says that’s the team’s first step toward registering an invention with the U.S. Patent Office.

“If you have intellectual ideas you have to protect them. Teams get paid lots of money sometimes,” said Thole.

The problem the team identified is something most residents of coastal Alaska have had to deal with at one point or another, packages getting damaged by water during transport. During the innovation segment of their competitions, the Cargo Crocs present their findings.

“We found people waterproof packages with plastic bags, resin, clear acrylic paint, shellac wax, and cellophane. None of these waterproofing methods are eco-friendly or biodegradable, so the carbon materials cannot be broken down,” said the team during a practice presentation.

During their research, they found a company that makes a bio-degradable waterproofing spray that’s used on clothing. They think a similar spray can be used on cardboard shipping boxes to eliminate water damage during transport. They’re also hoping their spray can be used to increase the fuel efficiency of cargo ships.

“This hydrophobic Cargo Croc spray that’s used on the bottoms of these barges is very effective at repelling ocean water and increasing fuel efficiency. Yeah, I can’t believe how nice application is. All we do is, the boat comes in, we spray it, and the boat goes out. How long does it take to spray the ship? About 30 minutes per barge and since the hydrophobic spray has an electrostatic application it covers and cures quickly. The hydrophobic Cargo Croc spray also has no chemicals that come off when the boat goes into the water,” said the team.

They have also built and programmed a robot. Thole says nothing can go into the robot that wasn’t made by Lego.

“There’s a requirement that the robot can only be a cubic foot. Every team across the world has the same board, so there’s a mat that we Velcro down. And so there are directions on how to build that black-rimmed board. So every team around the world that does this has one of those,” said Thole.

The board sits on a table filled with obstacles. The team programs the robot to move around those obstacles, picking up and moving objects along the way. The robots move strictly based on programming done ahead of time by team members, there is no remote control.

The team participated in the regional tournament this year online because of travel difficulties, but they do plan on attending the state tournament in Anchorage next month in person.

They’re also continuing to seek experts in chemistry and manufacturing to further their goal of bringing an eco-friendly waterproofing spray into the mainstream of the cargo shipping industry.

Skagway school has a long history of success in robotics. There’s one banner hanging on the library wall showing state and national championship teams from years past, and there’s another banner being made.

 

***This article has been edited to correctly identify the categories won by the Cargo Crocs robotics team.***