Big Piney Robotics Team competes in Salt Lake City robotics competition
March 22, 2017
Big Piney High School Robotics Team 3288 had the opportunity to participate in the Salt Lake City Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in mid-March where they placed 7th out of 48 teams. Now they are preparing to go to the Denver Regional competition.
FIRST Robotics is a program created to inspire young minds. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST helps students have hands on experiences to teach them the importance of STEM related careers. As science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) become more prominent in the world, they—as the rising generation—must keep up.
Every year a new game is created and teams have six weeks to build a robot that will excel in the competition. This year Big Piney High School Robotics team built a robot to fit the challenge "Steamworks". With three teams on an alliance, they worked together to beat the other alliance. Five inch green balls represent fuel. The fuel is scored when it successfully enters the boiler either from the high or low goal. This creates "steam pressure" to help prepare the airship for flight. Robots retrieve and deliver gears to the airship. Two airships are in the middle of the field, one for each alliance. Two pilots are on the airship ready to pull the gears up from the robots and install them so rotors can start turning. At the end of the match ropes are deployed for the robots to climb up.
The team says they are very grateful to have the opportunities given to them and would like to thank everyone for all the support they received. "Without our wonderful sponsors we never would’ve made it this far. These sponsors include Shell, ExxonMobil, EOG Resources, Jonah Energy, Linn Energy, and Chevron," said team coach, Steve Nelson.
Photos courtesy Big Piney Robotics.
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