Cranberry team “This ain’t it chief” (at right) after hearing they won the competition. (By Trisha Dixon)
By NATALIE SANDROCK & JENNA SEIGWORTH
Student Contributors
VEX is a robotics competition that encompasses grades third through twelfth. Teams (aka alliances) of four students are tasked with creating a robot that is competition ready by March. Even though the theme for this year’s competition has been available to the public since April 2018, this is Cranberry Area School District’s first time competing in VEX Robotics, so most teams began construction in the fall, with some students having only two weeks to create their robot.
These teams consist of builders and coders. Builders are in charge of the actual construction of the robot and the design process. The coders write the code to program the robot and are also in charge of the engineering notebook. This notebook contains a daily task log of what the team has accomplished on any given day. It also has any changes made to the robot’s design written in it along with the reason for the change.
Junior high students compete in the VEX IQ Competition. In this format, teams build and program a robot that performs several tasks including moving and stacking hubs into designated areas as well as having their robot hang from a bar off the ground.
Senior high students compete in a slightly more complex competition. Their robots were tasked with manipulating caps, toggling flags, and maneuvering their robot onto elevated platforms.
Eighth-grade students Riley Fry and JoJo Irwin adjust their robot before the competition at RVHS VEX IQ. (By Trisha Dixon)
Students from Cranberry began their day of competing with practice rounds and robot skills rounds. During this time they were allowed to try their hands at guiding their robots through the field while working with an alliance partner. During the robot skills potion, they are allowed one minute for their robot to autonomously score as many points as possible, and an additional minute to score points under driver control. Alternatively, teams could work on their robots and make adjustments to their coding. After this period of time, the actual competition starts. With two teams competing on the field, they each have the the goal of scoring the most points possible in the allotted time.
Both the senior high teams and junior high teams were also in charge of creating an autonomous period for their robots. An autonomous period is a pre-programed sequence of commands made for their robot to perform without anyone manually controlling the robot with a controller. This autonomous programming goes toward the team’s overall robot skills score, which is a separate category from the normal competition. At the junior high level, the normal competition does not contain an autonomous portion during each round. At the high school level, it does, with the team that scored the most points during the autonomous period receiving bonus points that add to their rounds score.
Senior high teams from CHS competed in the VEX VRC Competition. Students put an incredible amount of work into this competition between building and programming their robots and actually competing.
Competing against about 36 teams, all three senior high teams made it to the first round of finals and two teams made it to the quarter finals (top 16). Teams traveling to the state competition on April 9 include the following: team “Tech Support” comprised of Alex Best, Robert Schmude, Elliott Phelps, Chris Smith, Hayden Bell, and Ryan Groner; and team “Fab4” made up of Daniel Fisher, River Perry, Mikayla Wenmoth, and Jenna Seigworth. Unfortunately, the “Robotics Gang” containing Dylan Lu and Hannah Niederriter won’t be competing at States, but they were in the top 15 during qualifications.
Seven of our junior high teams competed against about thirty teams and qualified for states. Teams traveling to states include: “Robocops” compromised of Austin Shaup, Colin Selman, Trevor Schiffer, Tyler Wyant, and Devin Zerbe; team “The No Shows” made up of Jojo Irwin, Riley Fry, AnnaBelle Lee, and Paige Perrine; “The 4-Bust-Them-Gears” including Gwen Earp, Ella Perry, Gillian White, and Maddie Millin; the team “This Ain’t it Chief” compromised of Jeremy Hacherl, Chayden Bauer, Tanner Latshaw, Jerica Hepler; “Thunder Buddies” made up of Ethan Baker, Jenna Roos, Jordan Gervasoni, Paige Weaver, and Dorian Allman; “Rumpelstiltskin” including Lexie Erwin, Lillie Kaputa, Brookelyn Miller, Maileye Exley, and Ben Seybert; and “The A-Team” with Ryan Hanna, Sydney Crispin, Lucas Blum, and Brooke Whitling.
Senior student Alex Best had this to say to his teammates regarding the upcoming competition: “Don’t stop believing in yourself. Let’s take the experience from today and use it to benefit us in the future. Don’t give up!”
Their hard work paid off by earning a spot in the state competition March 9 at Keystone Oaks School District in Pittsburgh.
Cranberry students Lillie Kaputa and Lexie Erwin (last two from left to right) rejoice when their robot successfully completes its task. (By Trisha Dixon)
Natalie Sandrock and Jenna Seigworth are students at Cranberry High School and members of Cranberry Chronicles, the school’s journalism/publications group.
