Schools
Simley Team Just Misses in Regional Robotics Competition
The Spartans advanced on Saturday to the semifinals in the Minnesota FIRST Regionals, but couldn't gain the finals.
Competing in the 63-team 10,000 Lakes Regional robotics competition on Friday and Saturday, the Simley High School Robotics Club advanced all the way to the semifinals, but could get no further.
The Simley High School Spartans had some of the best individual performances in the regional meet, which was held at Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota. The meet is sponsored by FIRST Robotics, a national non-profit that promotes science, engineering and technology learning among students.
The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of students and their mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in a series of competitions. The Simley team raised roughly $15,000 to enter two regional competitions this winter — one in Duluth and the second in Williams Arena.
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The regional competition on Friday and Saturday involved two parts. This year, robots entering the regional meet had to lift several inner tubes onto a rack. As part of a secondary challenge, the team built another “mini-bot,” which was tasked with scaling a 12-foot pole.
“It went well,” said team mentor and high school teacher Wayne Anderson. “We were close, we had a shot. It would have been nice to win it all.”
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Paired up with squads from Breck and Milwaukee, Wis., the Spartans ran into an alliance led by an undefeated team from Cedar Falls, Iowa, that went on to win its second regional championship.
“We were hoping for first, that’s always your goal,” said senior captain Jacob Tinucci. “We had a solid alliance and we beat the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. It was working pretty well.
“Our robot, it performed just like we wanted it to,” Tinucci added. “We were one of the best teams here.”
Simley was a regional finalist in last year’s 10,000 Lakes Regional, but their entry in the competition lost one of its gears in the final round and began spinning in circles. Because of the breakdown, the Simley club had to back out of the competition.
While there were no breakdowns this year, the team still couldn't crack the finals.
“Our mini-bot deployed in every single match,” said Anderson. “And our thrower, Matt Kuntz, had the best throws. So we had two of the top things there.”
