On January 8th the Robotics team placed third in the major TCEA Robotics competition. The ensemble of 4 volunteers and Mr. Allen have been preparing for the New Braunfels competition since last September.
“Going into the competition I felt confident but there were some doubts,” team member Tyler Stec said. “All four of us are first year programmers while many of our opposing teams were composed of seniors who have been programming for three years and have had a lot more experience than us.”
The specially programmed robot had to be able to move around, sense soda cans, and move these soda cans to separate walls. The team had three tries to make their robot do as instructed; they were judged based on the completion of these tasks. The first two rounds did not go as planned, but on the third round the team scored the second highest of any robot in the competition. The leap in score brought the foursome to an impressive overall third place.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the kids in the way they committed to the competition, made adjustments in their design, and pulled it all together and the contest,” Mr. Allen said.
The robotics team plans to go to state in early April, and has already begun preparing.
“I was really happy for the kids,” Mr. Allen said. “They realized how good their design is and that they have a real shot at winning state.”
