SciBorgs make new mark at Worlds

The 14 SciBorg team members and four mentors gather with their robot at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston April 21.

The Sciborgs set a new standard in Houston in their seven-year existence. The area high school robotics team competed in Texas at one of two sites for the F.I.R.S.T. Robotics World Championships. They were among 700 teams from 27 countries. They advanced to the top field of competition before being eliminated just before the final rounds.

The action opened Thursday, April 19, with two days of qualifying matches at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Teams divided into six fields named after scientists.

The next stage was alliance selections for the playoffs, in which the 14-member Sciborgs were picked in a four-team alliance with “Citrus Circuits” from Davis, Calif .; “Up-a-Creek Robotics,” Longmont, Colo., and “The FBI, ” Independence, Mo.

They topped the Newton field of 67 total teams.

The Sciborgs’ alliance advanced to the Einstein field in which six alliances competed. The Sciborgs’ group finished third. The top two groups then competed on the final day at the Houston Astros’ baseball stadium.

“The World Championships showed me that we are ‘the Little Robot that Could’ and we are capable of amazing things both now and in the future,” said Colfax High School senior Rebekah Huber. “One of my favorite aspects of Worlds was that it united so many people from across the globe with competition and the F.I.R.S.T. mission. It’s not just robots!”

F.I.R.S.T. stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

The Sciborgs qualified for Houston by finishing northwest competition this winter with a no. 18 ranking. A total of three Eastern Washington teams made it to Worlds, the other two were the “Circuit Breakers” from Medical Lake and the “Canine Crusaders” from Kettle Falls.

In northwest competition this season, at the Yakima SunDome district event, the Sciborgs won the “Excellence in Engineering Award” for their robot’s arm design, including clutches and right-angle drives.

At the West Valley district event the Palouse team also earned the “Engineering Inspiration Award,” which marks outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school or organization and community.

The Houston championships are one of two sites that hold the world high school robotics competition. Another 700 teams will compete in Detroit April 25-28.

Washington State Extension 4H Program created the Sciborgs in 2011. Team members this year came from Colfax, Colton, Pullman and Moscow.