Robotics Places 3rd at BEST Competition
This year the Robotics Club again enrolled in the Capitol BEST competition, with key insights from last year’s competition and 45 club members ready to work toward the Oct. 24 showdown. The aggressive six-week timetable in which to build a robot capable of running an intricate obstacle course (“Pay Dirt”) had the club members spending every free moment in the Robotics lab, including Saturdays. Thankfully, they had a leader in Katherine Dyson ‘18, who competed last year and was, “the one leading the charge and leading by example this year,” according to faculty advisor Jim Thomas.
Katherine says, “The hardest part is just getting work done, not everyone has the same availability to work on it. Also, you don’t know if something is going to work until you build it and try it.” The team created a robot that could execute a specific set of tasks with the aid of a handheld controller. The designers, programmers, and drivers all had different ideas on the best design, and Katherine says, “Usually the best idea is some combination of several students’ ideas.” Beyond learning the technical skills required to create the robot, Katherine says, “We’re learning how to problem solve together, and that sometimes a solution doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes the simple solution is best.”
Katherine’s father Patrick Dyson was the volunteer team mentor for a second year, which Jim Thomas says was, “my life saver!” Patrick describes the team as, “A wonderful group of kids.” As a professional engineer, Patrick helped students decide which ideas were most viable during their Saturday brainstorming sessions. “You certainly don’t want them to rule something out too early. They don’t know what they can’t do yet, which keeps them open to all kinds of possibilities.” Patrick recalls how much fun it was to “see the whole team come together during the competition. The video game players get to shine with their driving skills!”
St. Andrew’s was one of 25 area public and private schools that competed all day at Westwood HS in a meet that was “even more competitive and exciting than last year,” according to Jim Thomas. The St. Andrew’s CruBot Mark II was driven in 13 rounds of intense and close head-to-head competition matches by Mac Baskin ‘16, Will Nickerson ‘18, Matt Otto ‘17, Ben Pollinger ‘17 and Jeff Wang ‘18 with Julia Coe ‘18 as the main competition spotter.
After eight preliminary rounds, three semifinal rounds, and three final rounds, St. Andrew’s made the "final four” head-to-head match and ultimately took third place. Jim Thomas says, “I am proud of our kids in every way possible as they represented St. Andrew's at the tournament. Many thanks to Patrick Dyson, my friend and co-coach, for all his energy and help throughout the entire BEST competition season. As BEST ends, the FTC robot competition will begin to heat up, so stand by for more action!”
Read more about the Capitol BEST competition here http://www.capitol-best.org/home.php
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Katherine’s father Patrick Dyson was the volunteer team mentor for a second year, which Jim Thomas says was, “my life saver!” Patrick describes the team as, “A wonderful group of kids.” As a professional engineer, Patrick helped students decide which ideas were most viable during their Saturday brainstorming sessions. “You certainly don’t want them to rule something out too early. They don’t know what they can’t do yet, which keeps them open to all kinds of possibilities.” Patrick recalls how much fun it was to “see the whole team come together during the competition. The video game players get to shine with their driving skills!”
St. Andrew’s was one of 25 area public and private schools that competed all day at Westwood HS in a meet that was “even more competitive and exciting than last year,” according to Jim Thomas. The St. Andrew’s CruBot Mark II was driven in 13 rounds of intense and close head-to-head competition matches by Mac Baskin ‘16, Will Nickerson ‘18, Matt Otto ‘17, Ben Pollinger ‘17 and Jeff Wang ‘18 with Julia Coe ‘18 as the main competition spotter.
After eight preliminary rounds, three semifinal rounds, and three final rounds, St. Andrew’s made the "final four” head-to-head match and ultimately took third place. Jim Thomas says, “I am proud of our kids in every way possible as they represented St. Andrew's at the tournament. Many thanks to Patrick Dyson, my friend and co-coach, for all his energy and help throughout the entire BEST competition season. As BEST ends, the FTC robot competition will begin to heat up, so stand by for more action!”
Read more about the Capitol BEST competition here http://www.capitol-best.org/home.php
