Rio Hondo High School can now breathe easier knowing they have retained their title of robotic champions. Like last year, students from Rio Hondo won the Hispanic, Engineering, Science and Technology conference’s Robotics Day. Thursday’s competition had students from 60 Rio Grande Valley middle and high schools battle each other at the University of Texas-Pan American fieldhouse with handheld robots they built.
Christopher Gonzalez, coach for the Rio Hondo Robotics Club, explained the differences in competing these last two years.
“Last time was all about having fun; this year the pressure was on to ensure we kept the title,” he said. “Half of our members are new, but all the students have done a fantastic job of working together to help and learn from each other.”
The robotics contest was a “sumo” competition. Much like the Japanese wrestling sport, players placed their robots inside a white ring and attempted to push opponents out of the circle to win.
Robots varied in design and tactics with many built with either ramps to flip opponents in the ring and even ultrasonic sensors to detect other robots. Rio Hondo’s “Mantis” robot was built with a tail that lashes out to strike the white line of the ring as robots were required to touch the ring to start their match.
The competition was not without its shortcomings. Due to server issues that delayed the tallying of the scores heading into the double elimination rounds as well as up to 10 “tie breaker” rounds for several players, awards weren’t handed out until an hour and a half later.
Joel Ruiz, the technology events specialist for UTPA’s Community Engagement Division, said that the purpose of Robotics Day is the same as HESTEC: to inspire teenagers to get interested in science and engineering outside of school.
“Most students tend to view the fields of technology and science as something intimidating and daunting that could scare them away from it,” the 29-year-old Zapata native said. “With an event like this, students can learn that it is possible for them to have fun in it and learn important lessons about teamwork and applying hard work.”
Grand prize winners for students competing were laptops while second place winners received
Christopher Gonzalez, coach for the Rio Hondo Robotics Club, explained the differences in competing these last two years.
“Last time was all about having fun; this year the pressure was on to ensure we kept the title,” he said. “Half of our members are new, but all the students have done a fantastic job of working together to help and learn from each other.”
The robotics contest was a “sumo” competition. Much like the Japanese wrestling sport, players placed their robots inside a white ring and attempted to push opponents out of the circle to win.
Robots varied in design and tactics with many built with either ramps to flip opponents in the ring and even ultrasonic sensors to detect other robots. Rio Hondo’s “Mantis” robot was built with a tail that lashes out to strike the white line of the ring as robots were required to touch the ring to start their match.
The competition was not without its shortcomings. Due to server issues that delayed the tallying of the scores heading into the double elimination rounds as well as up to 10 “tie breaker” rounds for several players, awards weren’t handed out until an hour and a half later.
Joel Ruiz, the technology events specialist for UTPA’s Community Engagement Division, said that the purpose of Robotics Day is the same as HESTEC: to inspire teenagers to get interested in science and engineering outside of school.
“Most students tend to view the fields of technology and science as something intimidating and daunting that could scare them away from it,” the 29-year-old Zapata native said. “With an event like this, students can learn that it is possible for them to have fun in it and learn important lessons about teamwork and applying hard work.”
Grand prize winners for students competing were laptops while second place winners received
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