Chesterton Middle School (CMS) hosted the Inaugural VRC Robotics Tournament on Saturday, November 18. Students from Chesterton, Valparaiso, Portage, Plymouth, Syracuse, Crown Point, Winamac, Waterloo, and Middlebury all traveled to participate in a completely student-focused competition with robots they crafted. Students from each school were broken up into teams. Prior to the tournament, the teams created their robots to all serve a common purpose: to be used in a series of rudimentary soccer games.
Robotics is a field that combines engineering and creative problem-solving to achieve a goal. The essential idea is that people craft machines to execute a specific task. In the context of Saturday’s competition, teams placed their robots into mini arenas where they raced to launch triballs into the opposing goals.
“Each team competes six different times. The competition is an alliance-based and competing-against-based. So you have an alliance, and the two of you are competing against another two team alliance. Each year of robotics is a different game, a different objective. This year’s game is a little bit like soccer. You have to get your triballs, which are balls shaped like triangles, from one side to the other and into a goal,” CMS assistant Coach Kerry said.
During the matches, students have abundant opportunities to earn points. One opportunity is an autonomous portion, where the robots are coded and programmed in order to be self-sufficient. Additionally, there is a driving portion where students must operate and drive their robot. Students may also earn points from launching the triballs, as well as another portion called “End Game” where the robots climb a pole and hang.
“After the prelims, the top sixteen teams are given the opportunity to choose an alliance partner with which to compete throughout the elimination and finals matches. Generally, the top 32 teams end up in the finals, but occasionally a team with a lower ranking in the prelims might get chosen as an alliance by a much higher scoring team,” head coach, Dr. Jay Drew said.
Interest in robotics has significantly increased in recent years. STEM-focused students enjoy the competitive qualities of the robotics tournaments, as well as the freedom to innovate.
“I’ve been doing robotics since 5th grade, and I always have planned to get an engineering degree after I get out of high school, so this is a great career path for me to follow and robotics will help me along that path,” CHS Sophomore, William Morgan said.
CMS welcomed 69 registered teams to participate in the competition, in addition to the numerous spectators supporting from the bleachers. Both CMS and CHS competed in the event. The middle schools are given the opportunity to compete in either VRC, which is Duneland schools’ division, or IQ, which is the elementary and intermediate division.
“I believe that robotics in Duneland Schools will continue to grow over the coming years. This is our third year of competition at CHS and we have grown in both size and competitive capacity each year,” head coach, Dr. Drew said.
Part of what makes the robotics program in Duneland Schools so successful is the dedicated coaches. At CHS, Dr. Drew leads as the Head Coach, alongside his Assistant Coach Mr. Isaac Torres. At CMS, Mr. Brad Sweet leads as the Head Coach, with Ms. Kerry Hyde. Robotics in the school district has gained popularity among students for years, suggesting that it may be a more prevalent extracurricular.
“The biggest determinant in the future of robotics is going to be the strength of the Robotics Boosters. This is the first full season with an official boosters club and the energy, support, and publicity that they provide for us is amazing. They are interested in seeing a top tier program for their children and are willing to help make that happen. Without their support, the tournament on Saturday would have been a disaster,” Dr. Drew said.
Taking into consideration the future split of CMS, questions of the future of Duneland robotics arise.
“It will be interesting to see what the split from one middle school to two schools will affect the middle school program. I know that there is still discussion as to whether they will be able to remain as one team or have to break up into two teams. Two smaller middle school teams will make for more competition within Duneland, but will reduce the momentum available to a large team like the current CMS team,” Dr. Drew said.
The competition on Saturday was delayed for roughly an hour due to technical difficulties, although the situation was corrected and the event proceeded as planned.
“It was frustrating for sure, especially starting out our inaugural event with a major disruption. We set everything up on Friday night and everything worked correctly, but once we started actual matches, things fell apart. However, the team of coaches that came up to help figure out the problem were amazing. I have worked in IT and in other problem-solving situations and this was the most efficient and productive problem-solving team that I have ever witnessed,” Dr. Drew said.
Crown Point High School team 1233 Astro was awarded the Excellence Award for High School (VRC/VAIRC) as well as the Tournament Champions Award (VRC/VEXU/VAIRC). The team 1233 Hazard, won the Judges Award (VRC/VEXU/VAIC/ADC/VAIRC). Plymouth High School team Easy Breezy won the Tournament Champions (VRC/VEXU/VAIRC). Portage High School team Porta-Botz! – Big Brained won the Design Award (VRC/VEXU/VAIRC).
Having been the first time CMS hosted a robotics competition, students, staffs, and spectators alike came together to show their support and appreciation for the robotics field, and for a space to learn. As the season progresses, students will have other chances to earn awards and improve their existing robots.
