By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR Laughter and excitement permeated Helen Rancan’s residence on Saturday afternoon as the Green Machine Girl Scouts robot team gathered for a special celebration.
The girls have barely known each other a year, but no one would be able to tell as they bantered on the carpet, eagerly waiting to show off their winning robot to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt.
Rep. Holt paid a visit to troop leader Rancan’s home for an exclusive demonstration of the Cookie Crusher, the Green Machine’s Lego robot that beat out 50 other regional champions nabbing the team first place in the Eastern Pennsylvania Division of the FIRST Lego League.
FIRST (for inspiration of science and technology) is a robotics program for 9- to14-years olds that aims to stimulate their excitement about science and technology. Each year, the contest requires competitors to build a robot out of Lego Mindstorms according to a specific theme. This year’s theme was food safety.
A combination of 10 West Windsor and Plainsboro girls from six different troops sprang up as Rep. Holt arrived.
Rep. Holt sat on a sofa as the team first showcased its winning idea of creating a wax-covered hybrid seed that produces blue tomatoes when exposed to salmonella an idea coined the “WACHASTTAB” (Wax Covered Hybrid Tomato Seeds That Turn Blue). The theory is that tomatoes can be all colors except for blue, so if the fruits were visibly blue it would prevent them from being eaten and creating sickness.
The idea came by accident.
”I came to help the girls come up with ways to solve tomato-oriented problems,” said Hunter Rendleman, a mentor for the team. “Someone had just shouted ‘we should just make the tomato blue’ as a joke, but the girls became invested in the idea.”
The team has already entered the WACHASTTAB in the First Lego League Global Innovation Contest, where winners are partially determined by popular vote. The girls have also applied for a provisional patent with the U.S. Patent Office to protect their idea an initiative Rep. Holt appeared to find particularly impressive.
”This was a great thing because they have developed so many different things at once logical and critical thinking and at the same time, building teamwork and self-discipline,” he said.
After the girls recited their core values traits that encompass their motto of “gracious professionalism” everyone filed into the “Lego-rage” Ms. Rancan’s garage to see the Cookie Crusher in action.
The mood appeared to shift into overdrive.
”When they are running the robot, the spirit is so contagious,” said leader Cheryl Rowe-Rendleman. Ms. Rendleman added that in the competition, the team not only cheered on each other, but also the opposing teams something she thought the judges noticed.
The Cookie Crusher was built from scratch from a kit that included a set of rules, three motors and one computer piece. The girls originally designed two different robots and then combined the best of each into one.
”There was really no limit to what they can build,” said Ms. Rowe-Rendleman. “There were different ways to approach it, so this really shows their creativity.”
The name was chosen as a partial homage to Girl Scout cookies, with an emphasis on the Green Machine team’s competitive robotic skills.
Everyone gathered around a ping-pong-sized table, decorated and mapped with Lego constructions. The Cookie Crusher sat on one side, but the girls also built several Lego “attachments” that connect to the Crusher. The attachments serve to help the team earn as many points as possible in allotted categories within 2.5 minutes.
Each category dealt with food safety and food precaution, whether it was cooking food at the correct temperature, catching fish or transporting groceries.
Rep. Holt stood on the “opposing team” side of the table, as the girls helped each other demonstrate, explain and answer questions. Hands clapped as the Cookie Crusher executed several commands that involved moving other Legos and maneuvering throughout the table by itself each a program designed by a teammate.
Although the girls are happy about the win, it was hardly a priority for them.
”My favorite part was the experience of being on a team and doing something we’ve never done before,” said Sanjna Ravichandar.
For Anisha Amurthur, meeting other teams and learning about their robots was the best part.
The team plans on sharing their experience via a technology fair along with workshops in an effort to get everyone interested in the First Lego League something they would have done regardless of winning the regional title.

