In The News: NHS robotics teams bow out at state tourney

Written by: Pamplin Media Group 

Teams note that robot performance is what drove their qualification for the state meet

PORTLAND — Although Newberg High School's Beta Pi and Bullet Proof teams did not advance out of the ORTOP First Tech Challenge state championships, both took great pride in how they advanced to the tournament, held Feb. 25-26 at Benson Polytechnic High School.

"Being a senior, I think it was a good way to end the season," Beta Pi team captain Brandon Takahashi said. "This was the first year our robot was the main reason for us advancing. In years prior, it's been on an award or hosting a tournament, so it wasn't about robot performance. I was very happy our robot was the reason we were there."

The two teams competed in separate 24-team divisions, with Bulletproof finishing ranked No. 9 on the Timber side and Beta Pi finishing No. 16 among Tech teams after five rounds of qualifying.

Despite a lower ranking, Beta Pi had the better chance to advance after it was selected as the final alliance member for the semifinals by alliance captain Aperature Robotics from Pendleton High School.

That's because for its first two matches, Bullet Proof encountered a programming error that left them unable to operate their robot during the driver-control portion of the "Velocity Vortex" game.

That seemed to scare off the four captains when it came time to select alliance partners, even though Bullet Proof still won one of those first two matches because it scored 90 points in autonomous mode.

In fact, the team was ranked second after starting the competition with a 3-1 record, but tumbled down seven spots after losing its final match.

After having issues with its programming for autonomous mode, Beta Pi team members did not expect to be selected for the semifinals, but by that time the problem had been worked out.

Nonetheless, Beta Pi was unable to advance out of the semifinals, as its alliance lost 225-110 and 245-65 to the alliance led by Westview High School's Hot Wired, which won the Inspire Award and advanced to the upcoming West Super Regional by being a finalist alliance captain.

Takahashi and teammate Peyton Delp said they wish that they had focused more time on perfecting their autonomous mode because teams like Hot Wired and eventual winning alliance captain Gromit's Grommets from Pleasant Hill High School were scoring upward of a 100 points per match in that fashion.

"We need to work getting autonomous right from the beginning and put a bigger emphasis on speed because I think that sort of killed us," Delp said.

NHS teacher Terry Coss said he was proud of how all four NHS teams performed this year and that he can't help but appreciate how much the robotics program has grown and evolved. He continues to hear from former students who have gone on to successful careers as engineers, professors, mechanics, business owners, programmers and even rocket scientists and sees similar futures for this year's large group of seniors.

"When I started teaching at NHS in the late 1980s the majority of students that ventured into the shop areas were the ones that didn't fit in a traditional classroom setting," Coss said. "Now we have a nice cross section of kids with a variety of skill sets, which are necessary in the creation and operation of intelligent machines."

Most of those seniors echoed Coss in their appreciation for the program, as for many it played a large role in helping them decide what educational and career paths they plan to pursue.

"I think it was my biggest inspiration for getting into engineering," Bullet Proof member Shane Willis said. "I definitely think it was a valuable experience."