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Cheers erupted from the bleachers at Liberty High School as a small metal and plastic robot launched a paper airplane over a barricade on the gymnasium floor. Nearby, students smiled as the robot lifted its metal arm, grabbed a plastic bar above its head, and lifted itself two inches off the ground.
On Sunday, a raucous Hillsboro gym was packed not for a sporting event but for the annual First Tech Challenge. The First Tech Challenge is a state-wide robotics championship in which student teams from across Oregon compete for four coveted spots at the world championships in Houston in April.
“It’s not about robots,” said Beth Hutchins, interim executive director of the Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program, which organized Sunday’s championship. “Instead of adults regurgitating their own knowledge, we provide scaffolding for students to pursue that knowledge.”
Approximately 400 students from 48 teams filled Liberty’s gym and cafeteria for the day’s competition. Dozens of students and volunteer referees, ranging from seventh grade to her 12th grade, gathered around his four 12-foot-by-12-foot “fields,” where robots played his two-and-a-half minute matches. We faced off.
This year’s theme was “First in Show,” inspired by the behind-the-scenes work that creates art and film. The robot is given the task of picking up a “pixel” (a small disk) from one side of the field, moving itself through a “stage door” and placing the pixel on the board on the other side of the field. I did. Robots can accumulate additional points for their team by lifting themselves off the ground and flying paper airplane “drones.”
Sunday marked the first time Isabella Hiatt, a sophomore at Pilot Rock High School in Umatilla County in eastern Oregon, competed in the state championship. The 16-year-old was one of three members of team Ladies First, who had spent the past seven months developing the robot Bowser. The team wore matching purple shirts, black pants, and black top hats with a small black top hat placed over their bowsers.
For Hyatt, who lives in an isolated area with no Wi-Fi or cell phone service, robotics has given her the opportunity to connect and talk with others who share common interests. And she said she felt it was important for her to be on one of the only women’s teams competing that day.
“Most teams are male-dominated and society thinks women can’t do that. So we’re proving that’s not the case,” Hyatt said. “More girls need to be a part of this.”
Hiatt’s teammate Lauren Bomes said robotics was a way for her to come out of her shell.
“I’m an introvert so I don’t usually talk to people, but I like this,” said Bohms, 15, a freshman at Pilot Rock. “Robots are fun and anyone can make them.”
Akash Ragam, co-captain of the team Mechanical Mages, called his team’s robots “jacks of all trades.” Their robot, named Prowler, could pick up objects, fly paper airplanes, hang from tall objects and “do wheelies,” said Ragham, a sophomore at Jesuit High School. Ta.
Ragam was one of 13 members on the team and hailed from Sunset High School, Westview High School, Jesuit High School and Stoller Middle School. He started participating in robotics competitions in elementary school, which he said inspired him to pursue software engineering after high school.
“What I like most about robotics is that there is room for ingenuity and innovation,” he said. “It teaches us really great life skills.”
Ragam’s coach, Sameer Ruiwale, said he started coaching robotics seven years ago when his two sons joined the school team. Ruiware, a microprocessor tester at Intel, said robotics not only teaches students technical skills, but also how to mentor each other, collaborate and build confidence.
“The most rewarding thing for me is watching them grow and develop,” Ruiware said. “And when you see something work for them, it’s joy and ‘Eureka!’ In that moment, that’s it for me. ”
Jean Hampton, who has been a robotics coach at Thurston High School in Springfield for 15 years, said she started coaching when her oldest daughter joined the Lego Robotics League in fourth grade. He said she competed in robotics tournaments through her high school graduation and is currently studying software engineering at Grand Canyon University.
Hampton’s three teams, the Metal Mercenaries, Federal Thunder Chickens and Ace of Spades, were in the “middle of the pack” that day. But teamwork, not victory, was their goal, he said.
The students’ teamwork shined early that morning when the team realized they were missing the wires needed for the robot to work. Hampton said a team from another school inspected the equipment and passed on the needed wires to other teams.
“This is a very welcoming, challenging and rewarding non-sporting event,” he said. “It’s a competition, but it’s also a family.”
— Catalina Gaitán covers public safety, politics, police, and more. Catalina can be reached at cgaitan@oregonian.com.
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