2016 Sonoma County Robotics Challenge

Author: Rick Phelan
Published: 04.16.16

robotics challenge event

Over 350 elementary and middle school students from grades 4-8 will take part in the 2016 Sonoma County Robotics Challenge on May 7 at Elsie Allen High School. Teams will design and program autonomous robots that carry out specific objectives. The challenge event incorporates hands-on learning with science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM). This year’s events include:

Capture the Flag: The objective of this event is to compete against another robot to locate and capture a flag within a one-minute time period.

Sumo: Robot sumo wrestling engages two robot contestants in trying to push each other out of a circular ring. The first robot to touch the floor outside of the ring loses. The last robot remaining in the ring wins.
Off Road Racing: Off Road Racing involves a 16-foot long course with blocks of wood placed at different intervals. The object of this event is to design a robot that will overcome the barriers, stay on track, and finish with the fastest time.
Free-Form Challenge: This year’s free-form challenge encourages student teams to explore the idea of “Creating Order Out of Chaos.” Teams select tasks demonstrating the theme and plan a script of actions. The only requirement is that the robot follow the planned script.
Drag Racing: Students will race robots on a track that is 16 feet long, with a goal of beating their opponents to the finish line.
Mini Golf: This challenge involves designing a robot to hit a golf ball into a hole with as few strokes as possible.
Ping Pong Ball Handoff: The Ping Pong Ball Handoff is a collaborative challenge. It involves teams creating robots that will receive a ping pong ball from the left and pass it to another robot on the right.

Work on the Sonoma County Robotics Challenge spans the months of February through April. Competitors learn of the challenge events in February. The next three months involve students designing, constructing, and programming robots using Lego Mindstorm robotics kits and programming software. Project work promotes the 21st century skills of problem solving, innovation, team collaboration, and communication.

The Sonoma County Office of Education partnered with local schools and the Sonoma County Economic Development Board to create this unique program, which is now in its fourteenth year. The goal of the partnership is to engage elementary and middle school students in applying mathematics, science, engineering, critical thinking, teamwork, and oral presentation skills through robotics activities.

Since its inception, the Robotics Challenge has reached over 110 local elementary and middle schools, involving over 3000 students and 175 teachers. The project successfully leverages the resources of sponsoring agencies to accomplish something that wouldn’t have been possible had any one agency acted alone. The project meets its educational goals by actively engaging students in applying academic learning.

Additional Information:

Sonoma County Robotics Challenge Website

2016 Challenge Rules & Awards