A Sharon Tiger Techs Robotics Team recently competed at the FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas. The team competed in the FIRST LEGO League Division against 160 other teams from around the world.
While at the competition, the team received the Innovation Project Finalist Award. The Innovation Project Award recognizes a team that utilizes diverse resources for their Innovation Project to help them gain a comprehensive understanding of their problem; has a creative, well-researched solution; and effectively communicates their findings to judges and the community. This award recognized the Sharon team for their project, Adapt-A-Reel. Adapt-A-Reel is an adaptive fishing device the team created for people affected by upper limb amputations and/or limited fine motor skills. The teams improved their prototype over the past 8 months and met with several experts including a physical and recreational therapist, PA Fish and Boat Commission, staff at Whole Life Services of Hermitage, and then tested their product several times with clients at Whole Life Services. The team secured a provisional patent for their device with the help of Robert Sovesky, from K and L Gates, Pittsburgh.
In addition to their innovation project, the teams competed with their robot on a robot table game and competed in an alliance robot competition. The team designed, built, and programmed a LEGO EV3 Robot to complete tasks autonomously on a themed playing field. The team competed in three matches that were each 2.5 minutes long.
The second award received was with their head coach, Dave Tomko. He received the Coach of the Year Award. This award is given to coaches and mentors that inspire their teams to do their best, both as individuals and together. Without them, there would be no FIRST LEGO League Challenge. This award goes to the coach or mentor whose leadership and guidance is clearly evident and best exemplifies the FIRST Core Values.
The robotics teams are part of the FIRST LEGO League organization. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” The Sharon Tiger Techs includes students from 4th to 8th grades in the Sharon City School District. They are under the leadership of Dave Tomko and Kelly Roys. The team is funded by sponsors and the Sharon City School District.
Sharon Tiger Techs Robotics Teams 