SSMS Robotics program hosted first robotics competition for TYRA Robotics Saturday

The Sulphur Springs Middle School Robotics program hosted their first robotics competition for the TYRA Robotics at the Middle School this past Saturday.  Fifty teams from East Texas converged from nine different schools to compete in an Advanced and Intermediate level of competition.  There were twenty advanced teams, consisting of Middle School and High School aged students, along with thirty intermediate teams made up with 4-8 th grade students.  

The competition is called Hi-Bye Pizza Pie and consists of an autonomous section of the game, which is pre-programed among the students and then a driver driven portion of the competition.  Both sections of the competition use an alliance team to help both teams accumulate points to move on in the competition.  

Various aspects of the competition can earn the teams points and those who end up with the most points continue in the competition until the final match between the last four teams.  Each team is guaranteed three matches, then continues to the single elimination round, after new alliances were formed by the various teams.  

The top four teams in each group are automatically qualified for the Area competition, that will be held later in 2024. Spectators could view the matches and watch as the teams competed through out the day.  Overall the event was successful and the students learned what they need to work on for future matches. 

By Allison Libby-Thesing