Thinking ouside the box scores a win for robotics

A team of five Newberg High School sophomores won first place in a robotics qualifying tournament at Evergreen Space Museum on February 13th. The Tiger Team - Tyler Krupicka, Alvin Yu, Anthony Farr, Michael Peterson and Steven Bell - is headed to the FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon Championship in Hillsboro on February 27th. The team is coached by parent Ted Krupicka; Newberg School District technology specialist Matt Greensmith and NHS engineering teacher Terry Coss serve as technical advisors.

FIRST Tech Challenge is a national robotics competition for high school students that engage students in design, implementation and programming of a robot to compete in a interactive robot game. The robots must navigate autonomously and be able to manipulate small objects and travel over uneven surfaces. Sixteen teams competed in the Evergreen qualifying event.
The Tiger team also received the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award which is given to the team that “thinks outside the box.” This award recognizes the most innovative, creative robot design solution to any or all specific field elements or components in the FIRST Tech Challenge game. The judges praised the Newberg team for learning from their early mistakes and using a creative design to achieve success.

Oregon Robotics Tournament & Outreach Program (ORTOP) sponsors the FIRST Tech Challenge to promote science and technology to young people. Watch the YouTube video to see the Tiger's final round and learn more about the FIRST Tech Challenge and other robotics competitions at the links below.