submitted by Brian Bushner
The robotics club at Hoosick Falls High School has been busy this year building – what else – a robot, and brought their creation to the first competition of the year. The club competes as a team and calls themselves the CyberPanthers.[private]
On January 30, the team spent their Saturday at Lansingburgh Jr. / Sr. High School at the “Bots Take Burgh” competition. Students from many local schools participated in a nonstop, action-packed day of competition. The robots they created from VEX EDR competed against other robots playing games such as “Nothing but Net,” which is played by scoring colored balls in high and low goals and by elevating robots in a designated climbing zone.
The CyberPanthers were able to attend and compete this year thanks to an iDesign Solutions VEX Robotics Competition Grant. Team coach Mr. Malikowski said, “We received $2,000 worth of equipment to build our robot and cover the entry fee for the first competition.”
Established in 2000, iDESIGN is a privately owned company dedicated exclusively to serving the education community in North America. iDESIGN is one of the providers of educational robotic equipment including products made by VEX Robotics, which were used in the competition in Troy.
Freshman club member Collin Macdonald explained how the event had a rocky start. He said, “Our robot did not even function correctly until around 9 pm the Friday night before the competition.” However, once they had an operational robot, the competition was a great experience. Collin said, “It was amazing for the team to win one match much less win five matches and go to the quarter-finals. The competition was a great experience for our team, and we look forward to the next competition!”
Malikowski applied for the grant with the goal of helping the club to become more competitive. “I was very pleasantly surprised when I got the message that our grant proposal had been approved because I was really wondering if we would have a team that could compete in these events this year or not.” He added, “Having the extra money meant we had the opportunity this year and next.”
Malikowski is optimistic about the future of the CyberPanthers, “The success this year will help to ensure that we’ll have many more good seasons to come.”
The robot is named after the students in the club incorporating the first letter of their first name and spells Big Angry Tech Jedi.
The high school students who run Panther TV created a video with footage of the competition, and an interview with the students on the team. It can be viewed on the school website: http://www.hoosickfallscsd.org/?p=3982 [/private]