Robotics Team Contest Held at St. Francis Solano School
St. Francis Solano School recently hosted a contest of intellectual ability and creativity rather than their usual sporting event. Just as sports teams get recognition for their athletic abilities, St. Francis met with Sonoma Charter School students to show their engineering prowess.
Both clubs, each representing their own schools, took the first ever Sonoma Robotics Challenge seriously. The competition was tough. With over 40 people in attendance, the 20 competitors put on a great show. Both teams used the RCX and NXT robotics kits stemming from Lego, which provide not only a dimension of building, but also computer programming. The teams had robots compete in an event called Sumo, a head-to-head competition requiring one robot to push another off the game board. The difficulty, however, lies in the pre-programming and design of the robots that is required because there are no remote controls allowed here.
Cailen Stepanek from Sonoma Charter demonstrated his understanding of this concept with his robot, which proved to be unstoppable. There was also a line-following robot showcase, which required the use of a light sensor, as well as an off-roading robot able to climb over stacked planks of wood. The event was not only fun and enriching for the local youth and community, but also showcased the science and engineering creativity mentioned in our national educational debate.
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I am one of the volunteer coaches of the Sonoma Charter School team. The St Francis Solano team – students, parents, and teacher were a real class act at this scrimmage. They exhibited great sportsmanship, fairness, and graciousness when some of the SCS robots fell outside some of the technical rules of competition. It was a pleasure to scrimmage with them, and we look forward to next year’s scrimmage(s)!