Robotics team from South Bend gets law passed by Indiana legislature

The Fire Wires is an independent robotics team in the South Bend area. The team members come from several schools. A few have been team members for years, starting in elementary school. Smart group of teens.

They put many regular people to shame.

They have got a couple things going on in the next few weeks. They have been invited to a big competition in Maryland (Maryland Tech Invitational) and another one in Chicago. Their robot will stack traffic cones on stakes against other traffic cone-stacking robots.

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There is a set time. Some of the stacking is independent programming. Some work is done with a gamepad.

Yeah, but you try it with your Roomba and salad tongs.

MTI is at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and it brings the best in STEM students from the nation and internationally. Thirty-five teams will be at the competition. Joining The Fire Wires is another team from Bloomington.

Robot talk is fine. Let's discuss funding.

The Fire Wires' biggest triumph could just be a civics lesson in getting legislation passed in the Indiana General Assembly. House Bill 1382 was signed in early May. It will provide $4 million in funding to robotics teams across Indiana, benefiting programs such as FIRST (which means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League, (aka FLL), FIRST Technology Challenge (FTC) and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

There are a lot of letters there. It all means robotics.

The law provides funding for robotics competition programs. It gets teams established. It provides grants to eligible robotics competition teams (eligible teams) to expand opportunities to increase interest and improve skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through participation in competitive robotics programs. It provides a procedure for eligible teams to apply to the Department of Education to receive a grant.

Under the new law, teams will be required to collaborate with non-profit or commercial organizations to raise 25% of the necessary funds. There is money for a starter kit and a stipend for a coach.

Hard cash for good programs.

But Fire Wires is not part of a school program, so it doesn't get any of the money from the new law, according to the team members. They knew it was a higher calling. It was done for the greater good.

Fire Wire's coach, Rich Lester, said that Michigan has a similar program. "Michigan passed it, and it greatly increased the number of kids involved in robotics. The team heard about it and thought it was possible for Indiana, too."

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The Michigan law resulted in a surge in the number and quality of robotics teams. Now more than 10% of the world's robotics teams are based in Michigan.

The Fire Wire members dug into the meat and potatoes of legislation and contacted Linda Rogers (State Senator from District 11, Granger area). The group worked on this in 2019 and introduced the bill in early 2020. However, COVID shut it all down. "The kids were there the last day before everything closed," Coach Rich said.

The team regrouped and met with Rep. Chuck Goodrich in 2021. He serves the 29th District, which includes Noblesville. He agreed to champion the bill.

Fire Wires team members wrote letters, met with legislators and testified at hearings. Team mom Jen Noie said her daughter Lucy, father is Tribune sportswriter Tom Noie, did a great job in the hearing. "She thought it would be a boardroom setting with four or five people." It wasn't.

"It was 30 to 40 people," Lucy said.

Sen. Rogers said she was very impressed with the team, their presentations, the skill set of the members and the teamwork. "This is a game-changer for Indiana." Michigan has excelled with robotics legislation. The Indiana version will do the same.

Irian Hornblower, mother of team member Ian Hornblower, said robotics is a "team effort and a challenge." The legislation was another challenge that they had to overcome. It was another team win.

Most of the team members met on a Sunday morning. They were taking time between television interviews, end of the semester events and fine-tuning Go (the robot. It is pronounced Joe).

The team members are Alaina DeMeyer, Lucy Noie, Calum Jessop, Ian Hornblower, Wasi Rasul, Raafe Rahman, Zackary Thain and Nate Baker.

Calum said the planning, solving and design issues are fun from the start to the finish. "It is an engaging process."

Alaina said she was excited for other schools to get the chance with the new funds.

Raafe said it is a special learning experience for him. "Something that makes robotics exciting is the hands-on and collaborative approach to learning, rather than the traditional classroom setting. This approach also allows me to apply what I have learned in the classroom into a real-world."

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"I find it so cool how you can design something out of nonliving materials and make it come to life," Nate said. "I've been a fan of robotics for as long as I can remember — my brother did it when he was in high school, and it's always been something I've loved. Not only do I get to work with amazing robots, but I also get to work with amazing people that have similar interests."

Coach Rich said teams from across the country are looking to Fire Wires for pointers on how to get their states to fund more robotics in more classrooms.

Visit https://youtube.com/@firewires8140 for Fire Wires speeches in Indianapolis.

Contact Kathy at [email protected].