High school robotics team to compete at World Championship

DRIGGS — The Teton High School robotics team could be heading to the first Championship in Houston, Texas, to compete with more than 600 qualifying robotics teams from around the world.

Coded Summit Team 4175 had a “fantastic win” at regionals, said Mark Hansen, technology instructor at Teton High School and mentor for the team. Not only did the win qualify them to compete in Houston, but it was also the team’s first-ever win in its 12-year history.

The regional competition had 50 teams participating, some of them came from as far away as China. The Driggs team joined forces with Team 3647 The Millennium Falcons and Peninsula Robotics, both from California, for their win.

They will likely be competing against those same teams in the national competition.

“This is a huge accomplishment for us, and we are so excited to have the opportunity to compete at the highest level,” Nate Little wrote on the GoFundMe page he set up for the team’s expenses.

Coded Summit Team 4175 was initially fundraising for their expenses, with Little noting, “As a student-led team, we rely on donations to help us get the resources we need to build our robots and compete at a high level.”

However, Mark Hansen has received a verbal commitment from Superintendent Christiansen that the team’s expenses will be covered.

The robotics competitions, held by FIRST Robotics, are highly competitive.

“Under strict rules and limited time and resources, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team “brand,” hone teamwork skills and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors,” according to the competition’s website.

FIRST announces the challenge for the coming season on the first Saturday of January. Teams must design and create a machine within the six-week deadline. It must perform the challenge as quickly as possible.

This year’s challenge was to pick up traffic cones and place them on posts on a grid, with points scored by linking groups of three. They have about six weeks to complete the project, Hansen said. The 120-pound machines need to move fast and they must be able to withstand getting slammed into by other machines on the field.

“The whole frame was bent after the last competition; we had to straighten the whole thing out,” Hansen told EastIdahoNews.com.

The team is made up of students with a range of interests and varying ages, from freshmen to seniors, who come up with ideas for the machines.

“It’s a learning process. We put together prototypes. They use scraps of wood, pieces of cardboard — anything physical so they can manipulate it. These students have never created anything, and then to be part of creating a complex piece of machinery is eye-opening,” Hansen said.

“Programming, electrical, mechanical — all of these have to come together,” he said.

During this process, students are always developing soft skills like troubleshooting. The team is responsible for the wise use of parts, tools and funds.

“They have to decide, ‘if we make this change, how does it affect that?'” Hansen said.

The teams have mentors who help them. As Hansen noted, it is a “pretty involved” process to take an idea from a drawing into a finished product. Mentors are talented professionals in their chosen fields. They can offer guidance and advice, but the actual work has to be completed by the student team.

Coded Summit Team 4175 had help from mentors Steve Roth (architect), who helped with fabrication and design. Sam Curren (SSI Architect) assisted with code and programming.

“We are very grateful for the support of the community. We are so grateful to work with these kids,” Hansen said. “We are grateful to help them compete on the world stage and show them they can compete with the best and brightest around the world and across the nation.”