Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘robotics’

“Bow before the magnificence of our collective brain power, puny mortals! Pray we use our skills for good, instead of having our robots conquer the world!!” (Photo courtesy Alison Perera)

It’s not about building robots — it’s about building good people.

That’s the mantra for the Whidbey Island Robotics Club, which brings together students from Oak Harbor and Coupeville.

The group, when not scoring big in competitions, concentrates on helping shape “people who will go on to be leaders in their various professions” and “people who will change the world.”

The mix of Wildcats and Wolves — Natalie PereraOrion Liedtke, and Gabe Smith hail from Coupeville — continue to shine at every event they attend.

This past weekend, the destination was Snohomish, where the 34-team PNW District Glacier Peak Event was held.

Whidbey Island emerged from the first level of competition ranked in the top five and were allied in the playoffs with the Iron Riders from Seattle and Stealth Robotics from Duvall.

Once there, they overcame two broken robots, collected the Gracious Professionalism award, and claimed third place overall.

Now, after two weeks of work, Whidbey’s robot overlords head back off-island Mar. 15-17 for the PNW District Bonney Lake Event.

Put in another stellar performance there, and they’ll join other top teams from Washington and Oregon in punching a ticket to districts.

The big showdown is set for Apr. 4-6 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, and you can support the brilliant young minds who operate on The Rock by popping over to:

https://team2980.wixsite.com/team2980/donate?fbclid=IwAR0ZTUsylCOMl35bOeGfe16QFQ9z88CLcpFGHoHy0m5IkNpE8jm10eNTQaE

Read Full Post »

Playing her trumpet or guiding a robot, Coupeville frosh Natalie Perera is a winner. (Photos courtesy Alison Perera)

Our robots are mightier than yours.

The Whidbey Island Robotics club, boasting team members from Oak Harbor and Coupeville High School working in tandem, devoured the competition Saturday at the FIRST Tech Challenge Interleague Tournament at Ridgeline High School in Liberty Lake.

Wildcat Robotics sent three teams to the royal rumble, with Team C besting foes from places such as Everett, Bellevue, and Redmond, to qualify for state.

That group features three Coupeville students — Natalie Perera, Orion Liedtke, and Wyatt Sylvester.

A fourth Wolf, Gabe Smith, was also involved in Saturday’s competition with a different ‘Cat team.

Looking spiffy.

Whidbey’s Team C survived a gauntlet to advance to state, having vied in 12 qualification matches prior to Saturday’s showdown.

With the frigid weather wailing outside, Whidbey went indoors and lit up the joint, making it through another five matches to qualify for the tournament playoffs.

Seeded #3 entering the semifinals, they upset the #2 team, then hung tough with the top seed in the finale, handing that team’s captain only their second loss this season.

Now it’s off to state for Whidbey, which will make its first-ever appearance at the big (robotics) dance.

Things go down Feb. 3 at the Amazon Doppler building in Seattle.

And punching a ticket to state wasn’t the only accomplishment for the Whidbey squad, which also received an award from the judges for its non-robot game performance, based on STEM education outreach and community service.

Read Full Post »

Gabe Smith ponders the mysteries of the universe. (Photos courtesy Alison Perera)

When they travel, they bring their big brains with them.

Four Coupeville High School students join with their counterparts in Oak Harbor for robotics competitions, uniting to help Whidbey thrash schools from the big cities.

While Coupeville has its own middle school robotics teams, coaches Alison Perera and Doug McVey are working on bringing back a similar program at the high school level.

For now, though, the Wolves and Wildcats work together.

CHS freshmen Natalie Perera and Orion Liedtke, as well as senior Wyatt Sylvester, are on Team 24252 (Wildcats C), while freshman Gabe Smith is on Team 22196 (Wildcats B).

The younger Perera is a driver, while the other CHS students work on their team’s robot as part of the pit crew.

The FBI would like a word…

In their most recent competition, held in Oak Harbor, Wildcats B went 4-2, while Wildcats C was 5-1.

Combined with previous results, that launches the teams to #2 and #3 in their league.

Both squads advance to Interleague competition in Everett in mid-January, where they’ll be seeded in the top five in a 31-team field.

FIRST Tech Challenge is a robotics competition open to students in grades 7-12.

Washington state teams start off with 12 matches in their region, before competing at Interleague, which is the last stop before the state championships in February.

Read Full Post »

Coupeville Middle School’s best and brightest. (Photos courtesy Alison Perera)

They came, they saw, they impressed the judges.

The Coupeville Middle School robotics club spent Saturday at Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish, competing in the First Lego League Qualifier.

Led by coaches Alison Perera and Doug McVey, the Wolves had two teams competing — the Robotic Wolves and Technical Duties.

CMS left school at the crack o’ dawn (or 6:00 AM) and pulled back into Cow Town about 14 hours later.

“It’s been a long day,” Perera said. “Super proud of the kids for persevering through a long day!”

Coupeville finished 8th and 9th out of a field of 31 teams.

While CMS didn’t advance to the semifinals this year, it was still a strong run for the talented students.

“It was a tough field with some great innovative projects and cool robot designs,” Perera said. “It was a great day after a great season!”

Students did a presentation in the morning, then played the robot game in the afternoon, with both CMS teams notching higher scores than they did in previous practices.

Read Full Post »

“Technical Difficulties” finished 2nd at regionals and will represent Coupeville at the robotics club state tourney.

Bow before your robot overlords!

Coupeville Middle School sent two Robotics Club teams to regionals this weekend, with one squad punching their ticket to the state championships.

“Technical Difficulties” claimed second place out of 60 teams, and now advances to the finals Feb. 12.

That squad includes Coop Cooper, Jack Ferrel, Andrew Milnes, Dante Muthee, Natalie Perera, Nic Rogers, Lina Shelly, and Gabe Smith.

Coupeville’s second team, “Robotic Wolves,” also earned a top 10 finish, finishing ninth overall.

Lisette Bentabou, Ameilia Crowder, Makayla Hansen, Lucy Humphries, Olivia Kowalewski, Edmund Kunz, and Sidney Van Dyke comprise that team.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »