Tahoma High Robotics Club, team 2046, in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition, returned from Portland last weekend after reaching the semi-finals in the Autodesk Oregon Regional.

In the competition, the Bear Metal team joined teams in fielding robots that can control and propel soccer balls around the arena, scoring points by placing the balls in goals at each corner of the arena. Bear Metal’s robot, Odyssey, is designed to climb easily over obstacles on the field, and to kick the ball the length of the field when necessary.

Various malfunctions on Friday left Bear Metal bouncing around the bottom in the standings. Saturday the team’s fortunes turned. Winning its first qualification match of the day, the team experienced continued success through the morning. By midday the team had soared in the standings, demonstrating an exceptional ability to score. This scoring ability was noticed by the top teams as they formed alliances for the quarter finals and Bear Metal was tapped to join an alliance with Skunkworks Robotics of Aviation High School in Des Moines and Paly Robotics of Palo Alto High School from California.

In the quarter finals, the alliance dominated its matches, each team placing balls in the goals, sometimes two at a time. With its ability to deliver a ball from across the field, Odyssey scored repeatedly.

In the first match of the semi-finals, Skunkwork’s robot was toppled early in the match, leaving the remaining two robots to fight the battle. Even so, the match was close with a 4-3 loss. The second match also was close, with the alliance falling to a 5-4 loss when a malfunction caused a ball to become caught beneath Odyssey’s chassis, a penalty.

The Bear Metal team returns from the competition looking forward to the next competition March 26 and 27 at KeyArena in Seattle.

• Bear Metal will be hosting a spaghetti dinner and auction to raise needed funds for our club. The event is scheduled 6-9 p.m. Friday, March 19 in the Tahoma Senior High School commons, 18200 S.E. 240th St., Covington.  Tickets are $10 each, or three for $25.