Sulphur Springs Robotics Team does well in competition
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The Sulphur Springs 7th grade Middle School robotics team competed in Anna, Texas on Saturday in their second competition of the year. Each team is responsible for building, coding and driving a robot through a course to earn points in competition. Each team consists of four students. Rubiks Bots Cooper Thesing, Pierce Dollison, Aliyas Whorton and Bradley Meek. Robo Warriors Sawyer Shutt, Gavin Solarzano, Tyler Scott and Zackary Young.
They work with another team from a different school to see how many points they can accumulate in the time alloted. Each team also has the opportunity to compete in a skills section that tests their knowledge of their robot.
The competition consisted of the students collecting as many balls as possible and placing them into a container in the middle of the field. Seventeen teams participated in Saturday’s match. Each teams goal is to clear the field or corral, of balls and place the balls in either the high goal or the low goal. [adning id=”33207″]
Points are awarded based on how the corral is cleared and where the balls are finally placed after being cleared. The high goal placement is worth more, six points per ball, than the low goal placement, two points per ball. Complete clearing of the corral is also worth five points. The teams can also earn points by hanging their robot from a low hang, six points, or a high hang which is 10 points.
Both of the teams from Sulphur Springs did well on Saturday. One team is still striving to qualify for state and will have at least one more chance next month at a Region 8 competition, in Pitsburg.
The middle school robotics team is led by Kelly Shutt. This is the first year that the middle school has had a 7th Grade Advanced Robotics class.
These students have previously participated in an after-school robotics program in 4th-6th grade. We are excited to see these changes in the STEM/STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) program within our school district.
The Middle school is in its third year of having an 8th Grade Advanced Robotics class. Two years ago, the students had the chance to participate in only one VEX competition and could not find any others to participate in.
The 8th grade Advanced Robotics class has just been upgraded to receive High School credit, and has not changed to be called Principles of Applied Engineering. The students who take this course can now enter High School with credit towards graduation.
By Allison Libby-Thesing
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