If at first you don’t succeed, make adjustments to the robot.
That seemed to be the answer to most of the problems encountered at the recent middle school robotics competition at the Tomlinson STEM Arena. The practice challenge was held Oct. 23 for several middle school teams, all of which will go to regional competition in November. Elementary students held their challenge on Oct. 24 with Whittier and Pioneer Park advancing to regionals.
This year’s theme was “Unearthed” and students had to complete missions with their robots involving archeological digs. Students also had to solve a problem involving archeology, such as how weather affects dig sites and problems archaeologists might encounter in finding artifacts. Students had to research and solve those problems and then make presentations to a panel.
But in the main gym, robots were center stage as each team attempted to complete as many missions as possible in the allotted time of 2 ½ minutes.
As with some projects, things don’t always go according to plan. Just ask Jesus Pantoja, 11, sixth grader at Central Middle School, whose robot did not want to go where Pantoja told it to.
“It didn’t want to work. It went backwards,” Pantoja said, adding that the team had worked on the robot for about six weeks. “I had to reset the whole thing and turn it back on.”
The second attempt went better, with the robot completing three missions: swiping a broom, uncovering an ancient village and knocking out some boulders.
“I’m proud of it,” Pantoja said after the second try.
And then sometimes random things happen, like to Easton Meyer, 14, eighth grader at MacArthur Middle School, whose robot didn’t work on his first run.
“I took the hub off to change it,” he said. “When I reconnected the wiring, it was in the wrong spots. I recoded this so it would adjust to where the wires are now.” He said he felt pretty good about the second try.
Derrick Hill, 13, eighth grader at Lawton Virtual Academy, also experienced problems on his first attempt.
“I put it too far ahead (on the layout table). The robot was in the wrong spot. It didn’t start in the correct position,” he said. His adjustment was to start the robot farther to the right.
Beth Perry, coach of the LVA team, said their practice mat was slightly different than the mat used for competition, which was throwing the team off.
“The robot has to be in a specific place, it has to hit in a certain place or it doesn’t work,” she said.
Hill admitted to being nervous before the second attempt.
“My anxiety is through the roof,” he said.
Hill’s second attempt at completing the mission was going well, until the robot took an unexpected turn.
“I’m sorry, where are you going,” Hill asked the robot in frustration as it took off in the wrong direction. “The problem this time was the wires were causing it to turn the other way; it was tilting.” Hill was able to complete one mission on his second try.
Stephen Hopson, 11, sixth grader at Eisenhower Middle School, also ran into problems on his first attempt. Hopson sported a small viking hat, which is the mascot of EMS, as he attempted to navigate the robot through the first mission. At times he had one hand on his hat and another on his computer keyboard.
“The reason why it didn’t complete the mission, it repeats over and over again. It was a random thing that happened. There really is no adjustment. We just don’t need to get any bad luck. I’m going to try to do another mission,” he said.
Successfully completing missions is just one goal of the LPS robotics program.
Pantoja said what he likes best about robotics is the friends he makes, adding this is his first year at Central Middle School; he attended Cleveland Elementary last year.
Natalie Epperson, 14, eighth grader at Central Middle School, said she likes the freedom robotics provides.
“You each build so many things. I think it’s fun how much creativity you can have,” she said. “At first, I just wanted a class to fill up my schedule. I liked how freeing it is. You are limited by how many pieces you have and your creativity. You get to find new ways to fix things. My creativity has gotten better.”
Epperson said robotics also has helped her personally, saying she has gotten better at talking with people. “With people on my team, it’s really easy to talk to them.”
Building the robots and coding them to do missions is just one component of the robotics program. The third element is coming up with a problem and researching the solution. Then the team must present its findings to a panel of judges.
Jayden Bradshaw, 13, eighth grader at LVA, said his team dealt with weather patterns archaeologists encounter, such as rain, wind and bitter cold. The team’s solution was making clothing adjustments and creating a foam coating for the equipment to keep dust out.
“Archaeologists have a lot more problems than I thought,” Bradshaw said.
Kim Batten, robotics adviser at Central Middle School, said students also learn about careers and teamwork.
“They work really hard and then they get to show it off,” Batten said. “It boosts their confidence. They get to stand a little straighter.”
Awards given at the middle school competition were:
Mission coding:
1st: CMS#2
2nd: Lawton Public Library
3rd: Mac Technics
Robot Design:
1st: CMS#1
2nd: Mac Technics
3rd: RoboVikes#2 EMS
Presentation:
1st: CMS#1
2nd: CMS#2
3rd: Mac Technics