The Sherborn based Brain Busters Robotics team earned the prestigious Judges Award at the FIRST World Championship. The four-day event was held in Detroit and attended by more than 40,000 people, with 15,000 students from 37 countries competing.
The Brain Busters team is comprised of Ryan Bendremer (13), Zachary Szeto (14), and Riya Bahadur (14).
After making it to the State Championship for the fifth consecutive year, this was the Brain Busters first time at “the Worlds.” Team member Zachary Szeto said, “It was a great honor representing Massachusetts at the World Championship.”
“It was exciting to meet all of the teams from around the world and see what great work they’ve done,” Riya Bahadur added.
The robotics program also has a project component wherein teams from around the world create innovative solutions to a real-world problem related to a specific theme. This year’s theme was called "Hydrodynamics," and teams were asked to solve problems related to the human water cycle.
The Brain Busters looked at the serious problem of safe drinking water after a natural disaster or other interruptions in water supplies. The team was motivated by the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico’s water supply. The team’s investigation showed that it’s surprisingly common to have interruptions in public water supplies due to contaminates or other problems.
After extensive research, the team developed what they call SPEW, for Solar Powered Emergency Water purification. This low-cost, portable system uses conventional filters and advanced reverse osmosis to make almost any water safe to drink. It operates on solar, battery, or plug-in power and each unit can produce enough drinking water for several families. The system’s portability and ease of use makes it perfect to have on hand for natural disasters or to treat contaminants in the water supply. The team’s solution is patent-pending and lab-tested.
The Brain Busters are working with peers and relief agencies in Puerto Rico to arrange field testing and possible deployment during the continued water crisis. Team member Ryan Bendremer said, “It’s exciting to have been recognized at the World Championship for all our effort, and we are hopeful our solution will make a real difference in Puerto Rico and in other places where there’s unsafe drinking water.”
