By Ben Sosne
Image by Stephanie Zollshan
“Conte Mechanics” team members from Conte Community School troubleshoot their robot during a heat of the 2024 Berkshire Robotics Challenge at Wahconah Regional High School. The competition will be featured in a documentary film, “We Robot,” which will premiere next month at the Berkshire Innovation Center.
For more than 20 years, the annual Robotics Challenge has made a lasting and indelible impact on thousands of kids across Berkshire County. Like a rite of passage, on one fateful Saturday each spring, teams from across the region who have been diligently building and programming Lego Robots for nearly four months, converge to compete head-to-head with their peers in a winner-takes-all competition that has all the makings of a Classic Sports Movie.
With more than 20 teams and roughly 200 participants, the 2024 installment of the Robotics Challenge reflected nothing short of the dedication and passion of the countless community volunteers who founded and built the program into what it is today. Of course, as the program has grown, so too has the prevalence and application of Robotics in our personal and professional lives. Robots work in hospitals, across numerous industries, in warehouses, and even in some homes. As the technology evolves, robots will continue to play an even greater role in supporting workers, boosting productivity, and driving innovation.
With the program’s rich history, the leaps we are seeing in the technology, and the prevalence of applications in everyday life, it is no surprise that the Berkshire Robotics Challenge is one of the most popular annual activities for 8-14 year olds in the County. It is also one of the most engaging and exciting, and is a breeding ground for future engineers, scientists, coders, makers, and innovators.
Since we opened the Berkshire Innovation Center in 2020, we have organized and coordinated the program and have helped its revival following the pandemic. Immersed in and enamored with the excitement the program brings, leading up to the 2024 event we decided that it was time to capture the story of the Robotics Challenge. BIC Studios, helmed by Award-Winning Writer/Director PJ Moynihan, documented the process of several local teams working their way towards the final competition, as well as the main event itself, and are post producing a 30 minute documentary entitled “We, Robot” that will premiere at the BIC on Thursday, September 19th, and be made available to schools, educators, and stakeholders in the region in support of the continued growth of the Robotics program.
“Starting in 2021 we worked with the organizers of the program to help them with the livestream, which allows teams on-site to follow the action in real time,” said Moynihan. “However, as a documentary Producer, every time the Robotics Challenge came and went, and we didn’t somehow capture the deeper story and unbelievable energy associated with this event, it felt like a missed opportunity.”
“So this year, with the support of local sponsors and our partners at the MassTech Collaborative, we had the opportunity to do just that. Our objective was to tell the story in a naturally occurring timeline, and lead up to the main event as the big payoff. And it’s a big payoff. A good documentary is all about access, and we had a front row seat.”
Moynihan and his crew shot scenes with the teams that were hosted at the BIC and BIC Works @ MoCA, as well as “The “Mechanics” from Conte Middle School and “The Robowildcats” from Lee. The film also tells the backstory of the Robotics challenge and heavily features the event itself, which took place this year at Wahconah Regional High School.
This is an opportunity to tell a wonderful story and provide a glimpse into a truly special program. It is also an opportunity to grow the program and expand access. Though young, the students that participate in the robotics challenge are key to the talent pipeline that will fuel the growth of our region’s technical employers. Indeed, visit nearly any employer of technical talent in Berkshire County and you will surely find plenty of alums of the Berkshire Robotics Challenge. This includes the BIC itself – both Tim Butterworth, our Director of Applied Technology, and Jordan Callahan, our Technology Fellow, participated in the program for many years, and continue to pay it forward as coaches.
In addition to technical skills, students who participate also learn valuable life lessons and critical human skills – how to work as a team, communicate effectively, troubleshoot, problem solve, meet deadlines, and overcome adversity. This is hands-on problem-based learning at its best, and the enjoyment is palpable.
For those students who truly get the robotics bug, the opportunities are endless. Over the last few decades, Massachusetts has established itself as a global hub for the robotics industry. Across the Commonwealth, top robotics companies, growing startups, and world-class research labs and educational institutions are driving new technologies and business growth. There are over 400 innovative companies in the Massachusetts robotics ecosystem, many working with one or several of the nearly 70 research and development labs in the Commonwealth. Today, one in every four robotics patents is earned by a Massachusetts inventor, and last year venture capital firms invested over $700M in Massachusetts robotics companies.
While the vast majority of the research labs and leading robotics firms are found closer to Boston and Cambridge, the industry is aching for new talent and our regional advanced manufacturers are very well positioned to leverage the newest technologies. The Healey-Driscoll administration is committed to making sure Massachusetts remains a leader in robotics and this commitment is reflected in the latest economic development bill. The administration is also committed to making sure that the thriving robotics ecosystem touches all corners of the Commonwealth, including the Berkshires.
With a very strong base of advanced manufacturers, committed and coordinated local educational partners, and such a well developed youth program, we are well positioned to seize this opportunity and make meaningful contributions to this exciting ecosystem. I know we have the talent. If you want to help foster that talent, watch the “We Robot” film, help us spread the word, and consider volunteering or supporting the program.