FARMINGTON — A robot made its way into The Forum at Mt. Blue Campus on Tuesday night as directors of Regional School Unit 9 watched.

It moved into the center of the U-shaped board table and shot a soccer-size ball on the floor that landed beside Darlene Paine, principal of Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon.

A command was given and the robot sucked the ball back into its arms, which lifted and shot a ball into the seating area and sucked it back.

Student Dylan Roberts appeared to be using a remote control with a laptop computer to operate the robot as fellow members the Blue Crew robotics team, Ben Andrews, Tucker Barber and Thomas Marshall, looked on.

The robot does not yet have a name, but Mitchell Guillaume, a senior at Mt. Blue High School, said they expect its character will be revealed and they will come up with a name at that time.

Guillaume told the board that the team began building the robot — its first — on Jan. 9, after the school board approved a request to have a team.

Guilluame had asked Richard Wilde, a computer technology teacher at Foster Career and Technical Education Center on the Mt. Blue Campus, last year if he would be a mentor.

Wilde said he would do it if Guillaume came up with a plan to finance the project for three years, which he did. Students and Wilde applied for and received funding from sources outside the school district, including a $6,000 grant from NASA.

Guilluame told those in attendance Tuesday that the team had run into some slight issues with the robot Monday and decided to rebuild it. 

“We learned when you do something, take the time to do it right,” he said.

The team will take part in its FIRST Robotics competition on March 24, 25 and 26 in Rhode Island. A field trip request will be sought, Wilde told directors.

The team will also compete in the Pine Tree District FIRST Robotics Competition on April 7, 8 and 9 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.

The Spruce Mountain High School Robotics Team programmer in Jay helped the team and some Mt. Blue students went to the Jay high school and Messalonskee High School in Oakland for assistance.

A number of team members who had worked on phases of building the robot were in attendance Tuesday. The metal fabrication program has also assisted the club.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net