Automated Amphibians gear up and join Frog Force at world competition

NOVI — The Novi Community School District was represented by four teams at the robotics world  competition this month. The teams included two middle school teams and two high school teams — Frog Force and the new and less-well-known Automated Amphibians.

The Automated Amphibians team, which was initiated in 2020 but left dormant for a while, was brought back by lead mentor Chris Pall, whose son, Nathan, 14, is a member of the team. The team was designed for students who have other commitments, such as theater, band or sports, and can’t commit to robotics full-time annually.

Pall said his son also plays soccer and expressed an interest in robotics, but was unable to meet the time commitment necessary to be a part of Frog Force, which runs year-round. The Amphibians started late in the fall and is composed of mostly freshman students. The students’ focus is solely on the construction of a robot, whereas Frog Force offers opportunities for students to participate in everything from construction to marketing to finance and sponsorships. Pall said the Amphibians had taken a couple of years off as there was no coach, but he plans to keep the team going for years to come.

“We are late starters,” said Pall. “We are a little bit less experienced than the Frog Force team. We don’t go the entire year round, but we still aim to do amazing things.”

Pall said his team of 12 students had little experience. Most of the team had done very little with robotics, compared to Frog Force, who has over 100 students, many of whom have been participating in robotics competitions for years. He said they were surprised that they made it to worlds, as many of the students had only learned computer-aided design this year.

“We didn’t expect to make it really far,” said Aiden Sundquist, 13, of the Automated Amphibians. “Some people didn’t even expect to qualify for states. So it was this big thing going to states, and then we made it to worlds, and that’s even crazier. Like we weren’t expecting to do that.”

In order to save time, Pall said, the team utilizes design plan options. He said that by combining two design plans it makes the team more competitive and gives it an edge on other teams. Both robotics teams are only given six weeks to build a robot prior to the competitions.

Pall said they took two design plans that were available to them and merged them together to form their robot. He said they took an intake from an existing design and put it together with the team’s robot and drive train.

“I like using the term like you put a dog’s head on a cat’s body, because we have the arm and then we have the really fast swerve. So most bots are like a tank, so they can’t turn while moving; they have to kind of go in an arc, where we can just go straight and turn at the same time,” said Sundquist.

Sundquist said he likes the hands-on aspect of the team and that team members work together for a common goal.

Frog Force member Priya Moorthy, 17, recalled gaining some insight on a robotics feature from the Amphibians. She said that after seeing the Amphibians use rollers on their claw, Frog Force decided to implement rollers as well.

“They were a little bit more efficient and robust compared to the old claw that we had, which could sometimes get the game pieces stuck in it, so we kind of adapted over and said let’s try the rollers on our claw and see how that worked,” Moorthy said.

Moorthy said she enjoys robotics because seeing how different people and teams solve the same problem is something that she finds interesting. She said she has learned to network through robotics as well as social skills.

“Robotics is really a team event. You can’t be like, ‘I’m going in this one lane and I’m going to just keep on doing my stuff and just keep on going.’ No, you have to collaborate with everybody on your team and you have to share ideas to get the robot functioning,” said Moorthy.

In the end, none of the teams placed at the world competition, which took place in Houston.

“None of the teams were selected for playoffs, but it was a great experience to play on the world stage,” said Janelle Moore, K-8 robotics coordinator for the district and a Frog Force mentor. The middle school teams are the Novi Robotitans and the Rapid Robots.