Engineers in the making

The annual VEX Robotics Competition drew a diverse pool of innovative domestic and international participants to Freeport.

The event brings together participants from various backgrounds and locations to showcase their talent and compete. The competition, a staple in the technology community for many years, showcases the brightest student minds in the field of robotics.

The competition was held Feb. 4 at Freeport High School hosted by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation.

The Freeport Public Schools were represented by eight teams, with five from Freeport High School, two from J.W. Dodd Middle School, and one from Caroline G. Atkinson Intermediate School. The teams participated in field challenges where robots faced off against each other to score points and complete skills challenges where the robots had to demonstrate their maneuverability.

“Our students have been working very hard all year preparing for this tournament,” Kevin Harrison, Freeport Robotics Club adviser said. “Our teams have really stepped up to the challenge and expanded their knowledge of robotics design and I am very proud of each of our teams and their robots.”

A high school team from Alanya, Turkey visited the United States to compete in the competition. The team, accompanied by their coaches, experienced American high school life by attending classes and other activities at the school the week of the competition. 

Before the competition, the Turkish team knew little about robotics competitions in America but was impressed by the camaraderie and teamwork displayed by the competitors. The Turkish team will bring this positive experience back to share with their team and rival teams in their home country. 

“The exchange of knowledge and information was an excellent experience,” Freeport High School senior and member of the robotics team Austin Patience said. “Programs like this that allow you to learn and share wisdom are mutually beneficial for all students involved.”

The competition consisted of several challenges that tested the contestants’ skills in a variety of areas, including programming, engineering, and design. There were 25 teams from Long Island and NYC participating in the game “VEX: Spin Up”, which involved stacking 60 yellow cones and placing them on mobile goals in a designated scoring zone. 

Teams also designed robots to pick up yellow frisbee discs in an arena with 60 of them, playing in alliances of red and blue teams. The goal is to shoot the discs into chained goals resembling disc golf, in a race to outperform the other robots. The winner is the team with the best-designed robot for the game.

The robots performed a variety of tasks, including obstacle avoidance, object recognition, and manipulation. 

“It’s interesting being an engineer going to a school to talk to these young students just to see how they attacked a design problem,” said engineer Andrew Braum. “Some of the students were so advanced in their understanding of the automation process and it was very enlightening and refreshing to spend time with these students who chose to do robotics. They could be sitting at home playing games but instead they chose to get involved in robotics.”

The Robotics Competition is judged by a panel consisting of engineers, college professors, and teachers. The judges evaluate the teams based on their performance in the tournament and their documentation, including their engineering notebook and interview. 

The project focus is on understanding the engineering design process. Each group has a member responsible for documenting their decision-making process, including why they chose a particular design for their robot to pick up the yellow frisbees. The goal is to improve the robot through the school year by documenting and repeating the design process.

Teams from Freeport High School qualified for the quarterfinals in the next competition and the senior boys team won the VEX Build Award for their well-built robot that demonstrated reliability and efficiency during the competition.

High School students Austin Patience, Jayden Easy, Ryan Retzlaff, Donovan Ligonde, and Dorian Trotman won the Build Award while David De la Llera, Gregory George, Stanton Deans, and Kevin Yang, and Jayden Thompson, Kevin Cuello, and Vladimir Estevez advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

“The build award is given to the team with the best constructed robot,” Harrison said. “They consider it to be of high quality and it has to be robust and have a clean and effective use of materials. It has to be designed with attention to detail, it has to demonstrate reliability on the field and hold up under the competition conditions.”

The schedule of events included volunteer training, inspection, qualification matches, alliance selection, tournament, and an award ceremony at the end.

“We are so proud to host another VEX Robotics competition at our school this year with an international team joining us from Turkey,” Superintendent of Schools Kishore Kuncham said. “For our students, being part of the robotics team is an opportunity to explore their interests in computer programming, engineering, machining, mathematics and more. It truly takes our students to the next level of a STEM education so they can become more creative and use the 21st century skills they are acquiring in our district to achieve their full potential.”