2014 Sonoma County Robotics Awards
Author: Rick Phelan
Published: 05.12.14
Over 300 grade 4-8 students representing 23 schools participated in the 2014 Sonoma County Robotics Challenge on May 3 at Elsie Allen High School. Students constructed and programmed robots to respond to seven different challenges. This post summarizes competition results with brief descriptions of the events.
Shot Put | For this event, students designed autonomously controlled robots to navigate a 4-foot winding track, enter a shot put ring, turn 90 degrees, and launch a Ping-Pong ball. Robots were evaluated based on navigation to the ring and how far they threw the ball.
- 1st Place | Austin Creek School/Sonoma Country Day School
- 2nd Place | Meadow School
- 3rd Place | Hillcrest School
Sumo | Students matched pairs of autonomously controlled robots in a Sumo-style “wrestling tournament.” They constructed robots no larger than eight inches square and programmed them to face an opposing robot and stay inside a 3-foot circular ring for up to three minutes. The last remaining robots were the winners.
- Sumo NXT/EV3
1st Place | Strawberry School
2nd Place | Austin Creek School
3rd Place | Twin Hills Middle School
- Sumo RCX
1st Place | Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School
2nd Place | Roseland District
3rd Place | Kenwood School
Drag Racing | The drag racing challenge involved robots constructed and programmed by students in grades 4-5. Robots raced in pairs down a 16-foot track, using sensors to understand distance and know where to stop.
- Drag NXT/EV3
1st Place | Austin Creek School
2nd Place | Kashia School
3rd Place | Austin Creek School/Sonoma Country Day School
- Drag RCX
1st Place | Meadow School
2nd Place | Roseland School District
3rd Place | Meadow School
Free Form | This challenge could be compared to Olympic free form events in gymnastics or ice skating. Entries were judged on a robot’s ability to follow action scripts, difficulty of tasks, and adherence to a theme. This year’s theme was “soccer.” Participants who competed in the Advanced competition category had to incorporate two or more robots in their performance.
- Free Form Beginner
1st Place | Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School
2nd Place | Santa Rosa French American Charter School
3rd Place | Proctor Terrace School
- Free Form Advanced
1st Place | Sonoma Country Day School
2nd Place | Kashia School
3rd Place | Kashia School
Bulldozer | This event took place in a 4-foot by 4-foot space with 8-ounce soda cans filled with sand. Competitors had to design autonomously controlled robots that could detect the cans and “bulldoze” them to specific target areas on the field. The winning robot pushed the greatest number of soda cans to the target areas in the least amount of time.
- 1st Place | Austin Creek School/Sonoma Country Day School
- 2nd Place | Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School
Off Road Racing | Off Road Racing involved a 16-foot long course with blocks of wood placed at four foot intervals. Competitors designed and programmed robots that could overcome the wood barriers, stay on track, and finish with the best time.
- 1st Place | Roseland School District
- 2nd Place | Meadow School
- 3rd Place | Kashia School
Programming Challenge | Students were given a robot computer program that had “bugs” in it. Competitors had two hours to understand the program logic, locate problems, make repairs, and load their revised program so that the robot could successfully complete a sorting task.
- 1st Place | Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School
Special Awards
Team Spirit | Strawberry School
Awarded to the team displaying the greatest degree of sportsmanship, enthusiasm, commitment, and teamwork
Grand Gearhead Award for Mechanical Design | Roseland School District
Given to the team whose robot best demonstrated solid mechanical design and function
Genius Programmer Award | Willowside School
Awarded to the team that exhibited the greatest application of robot programming skills
Golden Propeller Head Award | Meadow School
The grand prize of the Sonoma County Robot Competition was awarded to the team that best represented the spirit of the games by demonstrating excellence in teamwork, mechanical design, programming, and performance
Blog: Technology for Learners
