Tahoma Junior High robotics team prepares for local competition

The Tahoma Junior High School robotics team, made up of 25 eighth and ninth grade students, coached by Bud Cross, is entering the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge competition Dec. 13 at Bellevue High School.

By Nick Pennington • December 6, 2009 11:23 pm

The Tahoma Junior High School robotics team, made up of 25 eighth and ninth grade students, coached by Bud Cross, is entering the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge competition Dec. 13 at Bellevue High School.

The team will be testing their skills against other area teams after six weeks of designing, building and programming their robot. Each challenge requires teams to use real world technology with common materials. The winning teams advance to the regional and national competitions. Last year’s team tied for third in the regional challenge.

In this year’s HotShot! Competition the robots must hit targets at different distances, heights and sizes with whiffle balls. In each match there are four teams, two against two, and each team has their own robot.

Another part of the competition is the FIRST Tech Challenge Connect Award. This award is given to the team with the highest community involvement focusing on engineering and technology. Students interview engineers to learn how robotics are being used in current and future products from companies such as Boeing and Northwest Motion. Local engineers and programmers provide mentorship to the team in creating their robot. Bruce Lunceford provided programming instruction in Robotic Language C.

There are many benefits of the FIRST program such as FIRST students gaining real world experience by using their math and science education in a fun and exciting competition, using current technologies. Consequently, students involved in FIRST are 35 percent more likely to go to college. There are millions of dollars worth of college scholarships available each year through FIRST. Also, middle school students in FIRST get involved in their community in different ways based on what the theme of the competition is, whether it is climate change or alternative energy.

If you are interested in using your technical skills to assist with these challenges as a mentor or donate resources to the TJHS Robotics Team please contact the team at tjh_robotics@hotmail.com.