What began as an interest in robotics and a way to spend time with friends, has evolved into a passion for junior Jasmine Bayrooti and led her around the world to places like Qatar and Russia. Since 2009, Jasmine has competed in several robotics leagues with many teams, and is now the captain of the United States’ World Robot Olympiad (W.R.O.) team.

Jasmine began competing in robotics competitions with her team in the First Lego League (F.L.L.), which hosts competitions for Grades 4-8. In these competitions, teams are challenged with researching real world problems and creating a solution, as well as building and programming a robot. Every F.L.L. competition contains four criteria that each team must meet. The robot each team creates must perform a set of tasks in 2.5 minutes, the team must complete a ten-minute interview providing details on their robot and creation process, create a research process which relates to the competition’s specific theme, and work well together. Jasmine and her team, The Rockin’ Robots, won the Hudson Valley Championships and attended international competitions each of the five years they participated.

After aging out of the F.L.L., Jasmine has been the team captain of the U.S.’s World Robot Olympiad team, and has attended competitions with the team in 2014 and 2015. At her first W.R.O. competition in Sochi, Russia, Jasmine and her team were challenged with building both an offensive and defensive robot to play soccer without need for human intervention. They utilized infrared detectors and other types of sensors so that the robots would be able to navigate around the field, as well as score and defend their own goals.

In 2015, Jasmine attended the Olympiad competition in Doha, Qatar, in which her team finished in the top 16 out of 72 teams. This September, Jasmine qualified at the American championships in Chicago and will attend her third World Robot Olympiad with the United States, to take place later this month in New Delhi, India.

In addition to her W.R.O. team, Jasmine is also the captain of a Robocup Jr. te

am. In this league, teams are charged with programming and creating two robots which operate autonomously, but unlike the W.R.O. competitions, they are able to choose their own materials as long as they meet the league’s requirements. Jasmine and her team plan to use an Arduino system this ye

ar, which provides a variety of micro-control-based kits that operate with a range of sensors and motors.

While Jasmine enjoys programming and building robots, she said, “My favorite part of robotics is the relationships I’ve built over the years and the skills I’ve learned as part of a team working towards common goals.” In international competitions, Jasmine has also had the opportunity to meet many different people and learn about obstacles they face in STEM subjects. “I’ve learned about the educational system and lack of opportunity in Iran from the personal story of a member of an all-girl Iranian team that I met while competing in China…I find competitions to be so exciting and they have become some of the highlights

of the year for me,” she said.

In regard to Hackley’s STEM programs, Jasmine said, “I think that Hackley has a very good STEM program and an outstanding curriculum in science and math…What I think would be a great addition for Hackley is an Introduction to Engineering course that might introduce students to computer-assisted design, fabrication, and printable circuit boards…I think that a number of Hackley students would enjoy this kind of course.”

Gallery • 8 Photos

Credit: Photo courtesy of Jasmine Bayrooti

Jasmine with members of her team at the Robocup competition in Hefei, China.