Trystan Carrillo gestures after the Foothills Middle School Robotics team he is on finished their skills tests during the state competition at the school Saturday. It's the first time the school has hosted the state meet. Afton Fonville holds their robot in the background.
The Foothills Robotics team goes through a judging check-in with their robot "Sir Spooky Ahh" with Sydney Smothers, right on Saturday. Team members are from left, Afton Fonville, Trystan Carrillo, Neal Nayak, and Teddy Chen.
Foothills Middle School Robotics team members Afton Fonville, left, and Neal Nayak look at posted results of a skills competition while waiting to participate during the statewide robotics event at the Wenatchee school Saturday.
Foothills Robotics team members help Afton Fonville, far right, program their robot's movements before a competition Saturday. It was a frustrating morning as they attempted to get the robot to move where they wanted it to.
Trystan Carrillo gestures after the Foothills Middle School Robotics team he is on finished their skills tests during the state competition at the school Saturday. It's the first time the school has hosted the state meet. Afton Fonville holds their robot in the background.
WENATCHEE — A robot on four wheels pulls away from one of its creators but veers off its intended course only for the middle school engineer to pull it back for another try.
A computer screen counts down from one minute as the engineer stops and restarts the robot, named “Sir Spooky Ahh.” Sir Spooky is unable, this run, to successfully shoot the orange discs stored on a multi-colored dispenser under a bar as programmed.
The Foothills Robotics team goes through a judging check-in with their robot "Sir Spooky Ahh" with Sydney Smothers, right on Saturday. Team members are from left, Afton Fonville, Trystan Carrillo, Neal Nayak, and Teddy Chen.
Despite the setback, Sir Spooky eventually scored 29 points, the best of three attempts by the Foothills Middle School robotics team, Luminosity, in the programming skills challenge of Saturday’s competition.
Foothills Middle School Robotics team members Afton Fonville, left, and Neal Nayak look at posted results of a skills competition while waiting to participate during the statewide robotics event at the Wenatchee school Saturday.
Nayak has been a team leader and is the first student in the program to qualify for the state competition three years in a row. He has competed in the Vex IQ worlds competition twice.
The Vex Worlds Competition is the final stage with teams from all over the world competing. The competition takes place in Dallas, Texas on April 25.
Foothills Robotics team members help Afton Fonville, far right, program their robot's movements before a competition Saturday. It was a frustrating morning as they attempted to get the robot to move where they wanted it to.
Luminosity — including team members Nayak, Afton Fonville, Teddy Chen and Trystan Carrillo — did not qualify Saturday for the world’s competition, the first time the Foothills program has not sent a team to worlds.
Forty teams across the state, each with a robot and unique moniker, competed Saturday at the Foothills Middle School gymnasium as a part of this year’s state Vex IQ Robotics Competition.
VEX releases a new game for each season. Orange discs are stored on five multicolored dispensers with the goal being for each robot to collect discs and shoot them under a bar for points for this year’s game.
“It teaches them about time management, collaboration, how to be leaders, being part of a team,” said Brigitte Wiegand, the team’s robotics coach. “Some kids have never coded, some kids have never built. IQ is a really good place for kids to start.”
Wiegand said it’s great to be back after a couple years where the competition was interrupted in one way or another by the COVID-19 pandemic. This season was the second year completely back to normal tournaments.
And while she manages the school’s program and organized Saturday’s event — the first time the state competition was held there — the students are intended to plan, design and program the robot on their own and only receive technical assistance from their coaches.
Each year, every student participating in the competition gets the same VEX kit and then build the same trainer robot.
“(The students) start building up, trying to problem solve, and then when they come to meets like this, they’re able to get other ideas,” said Alexis Morgan, the club’s assistant robotics coach and Foothills Middle School science teacher. “They think, talk and collaborate with teams.”
The VEX IQ competition tests more than the team’s ability to program a robot. Teams also drive the machine using a controller in a skills test and then again with other teams to work together to score more points.
Teams are also rewarded by a panel of judges for excellence, design, innovation and more. At Saturday’s competition, 23 spots were available for worlds qualification.
“This is the highest level of competition we have ever seen in our state,” Wiegand said in an email. “Luminosity continues to be one of the top teams in our state.”
Morgan also pointed out how naturally fun the event is and not just as a competition
“It’s cool to make the state like we’re here,” Morgan said. “It’s really cool to qualify for Worlds. What it really comes down to is the experience and getting to meet with teams from all over the state and compete which is just so much fun for the kids.”
The new game for next season will be released May 2 and the official start of the season for the Foothills Middle School robotics club is in the first week of September.
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