Dominibots robotics team wins first, goes to state

    An all-girls’ team competing in robotics? Oh yeah! St. Mary’s Dominican High School started its first robotics team this year with only five eighth-grade students. When we first started we had no idea it would be such a huge success. My team members are Victoria Liu, Nia Hudson, Maygan Miguez and Sara Gautreaux.
    On Nov. 16 at Xavier University, the Dominibots competed in the “Nature’s Fury” First LEGO® League District Qualifier. We competed against 12 teams. We were the only all-girls’ team. Our project design, “Hurricane Hacker,” took first place. This win meant the Dominibots moved on to compete at the state level in the Louisiana Regional Championship on Dec. 7. Our journey to state was not easy, though!
    In the beginning of the year, the Dominibots met every Monday after school. The team had to first decide on an idea. Soon each team member discovered her strengths and worked on the aspects of the competition that capitalized on her strengths. The entire team pitched in and filled an entire white board with all of our edgy ideas for a tool. We invented a tool to help people affected by disasters and planned how to promote the tool’s functions.
    Maygan, Victoria and our coach Crissy Giacona tackled the task of programming and building “Minibot,” our EV3 Robot.
    Sara, Nia and I focused on the project component of the competition. Everyone worked on the core values that address teamwork. We wrote three papers. U.S. Air Force Sgt. Arthur Chatellier, a first responder during Hurricane Katrina, met with us to discuss our tool. He offered advice and suggestions to improve our invention.
    Our finished tool is an all-in-one survival tool that combines a hammer, axe, pry bar and blades. A knife and saw and reflective piece are built into the handle and can be flipped for emergency use. It can be used to help hurricane survivors escape their attics. Once safely on the roof, they can use the reflective piece to signal rescuers. We named this tool the “Hurricane Hacker.” My dad, Matthew Mitchell, used his artistic and carpentry skills to create a prototype for our project from our sketches and design ideas.
    I researched hurricanes and ways to prepare for them. Sara and I created an informative skit based on hurricane facts to promote the uses and value of our “Hurricane Hacker.”
    Nia wrote the core values report. Maygan and Victoria worked on the robot design report. Sara created a poster to represent Dominican at the competition and wrote the team information report. Anjel Guitroz, our assistant coach, helped to edit and revise the skit and the reports before the competition.
 As the day of the competition neared, practices increased. We met during lunch on Mondays, after school Mondays and Fridays, and even on a Saturday. We perfected our skit, finished the reports and improved the programs for our robot. Although this competition required a lot of our time, we learned that through hard work, cooperation, dedication, and loads of fun, anything can be achieved.