Lobstah Bots Robotics Team Nets Honors at New England District Championships
BUA’s robotics team, the Lobstah Bots, participated in the FIRST Robotics New England District Championships in Springfield, MA in early April 2024. Although the team fell short of qualifying for the world championships, it performed at a high level on the field: on the final day of competition, the Lobstah Bots won the FIRST Innovation in Control Award, which is given to a robot with an “innovative and unique” control scheme that is “integrated with the machine, human players, and strategy” in both concept and execution. Its practical and sleek mechanical design, paired with impressive auto-align and LED signaling in software, made the team’s robot — dubbed “The Woodpecker” — stand out from the crowd.
This has been one of the team’s most competitive and successful seasons in its history. In February, the Lobstah Bots were invited to present their work and robot at the International Society for Laboratory and Automation Screening Conference (SLAS 2024), held at the Boston Convention Center. The team showed off their robots to attendees, explored the exhibit hall, and learned a lot about biology and lab automation automation along the way. The event served as a great opportunity for the team to network with companies and see what robotics can look like in a professional industry.
Over March break, the Lobstah Bots competed in two district competitions. At their first competition, they clawed their way to 4th place out of 36 teams after the qualifying matches, and captained the 4th-seed team in the playoffs. The team also earned the Quality Award for the construction and design of their robot. At their second competition, the team was the 1st pick of the 5th-seed team for playoffs, and won the Judge’s Award for their branding and robot design. As one judge noted, “This team is so well rounded you’d think they’re on a roll. In the last few years they’ve made a ‘splash’ in terms of branding, recognition, and robot design. Their robot may be small, but they’re mighty in a pinch.” Drive team member Kendree Chen ’25 was named a FIRST Robotics Dean’s List District Championship Semi-Finalist. The Dean’s List award is presented to just 10 students in the entire league for their leadership, contributions to their team, technical expertise, and passion for robotics.
Thanks to the tireless leadership of team captain George Baltus ’24; the mentorship of Veronica Hui from BU’s College of Engineering; and the cheerful and unwavering support of faculty advisor Marie-Claire Guidoux, the Lobstah Bots built a supportive, passionate, hardworking culture that took the team far. As captain George Baltus said, “While I’m sad to graduate and leave the team this year, I couldn’t choose a better group of people to continue leading it into the future!”
Congratulations to the entire Lobstah Bots team on a claw-some season!
