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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2012)
10 february28 2012 schools Vernonia Robotic Team is Ready to Rumble By Scott Laird in an intense and competitive way. On Saturday, February 18 sev- The Boys and Girls basketball eral Vernonia students and their mentors teams weren’t the only ones making im- were working on their robot, correcting portant baskets at Vernonia High School a few bugs, putting together and install- recently. ing the final parts and practicing their The Vernonia Robotics Team operating and 4127 has been busy getting ready to driving skills in compete in the Oregon FIRST Robot- preparation for ics Regional Competition on March their upcoming 8-10, 2012 at the Memorial Coliseum competition. in Portland. In mid-February the Verno- Colleg- nia team was doing their final tests and es, universities, fine tuning their robot in preparation for c o r p o r a t i o n s , packing and shipping it on February 21 businesses, and to the competition. individuals pro- As part of the competition, the vide scholar- robot the Vernonia team built must put a ships to many basketball through a hoop. During test- of the compet- ing the robot was very successful. ing teams. This This is the first year that Ver- year the Verno- nonia has formed a team to compete in nia Team received a $6,500 grant from the Oregon FIRST competition. FIRST NASA and a $6600 from the Oregon De- (For Inspiration and Recognition of Sci- partment of Education to get their pro- gram started. This is the twentieth year that the Oregon FIRST competition has been held. The competition shows stu- dents that the technological fields hold many opportunities and that the basic concepts of science, math, engineering, and invention are exciting and in- teresting. In Vernonia, the team is made up of fourteen students working under the direction of James Brookins. The team also includes several local mentors who have volunteered their time and professional skills to Mitch Seibert (left) assists students Nicky Rainbolt assist the students in designing and Jacob Eyrrick with the Vernonia Robot. and building a working robot. ence and Technology) seeks to inspire Mentors include Tim and Michelle Bero an appreciation of science and technol- with TNW Firearms Inc., Jack Finzel, ogy among young people, ultimately Jay Anderson and Don Rainbolt who of- motivating them to pursue opportunities fered fabrication assistance, Jeff Ely and in science, technology and engineering. Mitch Seibert who assisted with elec- The FIRST Robotics Competition brings tronics and computer programing and professionals and young people together Brandon Eyrrick. to solve an engineering design problem Brookins also noted, with appre- VHS Equestrian Team Results The VHS Equestrian Team had an outstanding start to their season at their first meet in McMinnville in February. Representing Vernonia High School are Brett Benes ( senior and fourth year on team), Makayla McCord (freshman and first year on the team) and Chrissy Garrison of Jewell High, (senior and second year on the team). Top Ten placements were as follows: Break- away roping- Benes 1st place and Garrison 2nd place, Steer daubing- Benes, 3rd place, Canadian Flags team ciation, the assistance of the Vernonia Shop Program and instructor Cecil Fel- las who offered the use of his facilities, technical assistance, and practice space. Each team receives a basic parts kit at the FIRST Robot- ics Kickoff event in January and a new, challenging game is introduced. These com- petitions combine the practical application of science and technology with the fun, intense energy and excitement of a championship- sporting event. With their kit and chal- lenge in hand the Ver- nonia Team then had six weeks to design and build a robot capable of completing the tasks assigned as part of the challenge. According to Tim Bero, the Ver- nonia Team built much of their robot by hand, using parts fabricated from do- nated, recycled and scrap metal. They also located surplus recycled electronic parts. “The team saved a lot of money by building their own parts,” said Bero. “The kids even designed and built our own clutch.” This year the challenge and competition is called Rebound Rumble which is played by two competing alli- ances on a flat, 27 x 54 foot field. Each alliance consists of three robots. They compete to score as many basketballs into their hoops as they can during a 2 minute and 15 second match. The high- er the hoop in which the basketball is scored, the more points the alliance re- ceives. The match begins with a 15-sec- ond Hybrid Period in which robots op- erate independently of driver inputs. During this Hybrid Period, one robot on each alliance may be controlled using a Microsoft Kinect. Baskets scored during this period are worth extra points. For the remainder of the match, drivers con- trol robots and try to maximize their al- Tim Jennings practices with the Vernonia robot. liance score by scoring as many baskets as possible. The match ends with robots attempting to balance on bridges located at the middle of the field. The Vernonia robot is designed to pick up three basketballs at once, move quickly to the basket and drop all three balls through the hoop in quick succession. During their recent practice sessions the robot was operating and handling well. A test of the programing for the Hybrid Period was also success- ful. The team even had a chance to dem- onstrate their robot in front of the entire high school at a pep rally for the basket- ball and wrestling teams. The robot per- formed to perfection, dropping all three balls through the hoop. According to Bero, the team used a lot of aluminum and plastic in the design and construction and the robot moves faster than the team expected, in part because it is very light weight. On March 8-10 the Vernonia Team will head to Memorial Coliseum to see how their robot stacks up against robots from high schools all around the Portland region. ( Benes, McCord and Garrison) took 5th place. In addition the team placed well in the following events: Team Penning (Benes, McCord and Garrison) -13th place, Two-man birangle (Benes and McCord) 11th place, Working Pairs (McCord and Garrison) 14th place. In all of their events, the team showed a willingness to work together and have a lot of fun supporting each together as a team. Coach Diane Benes is excited about the enthusiasm and the unity the kids share for their new season. She feels that they have done a good job so far and is looking forward to what the season holds with their dedication to practicing together as a team. Coach Benes says she would also Last Basketball game in the VHS gym before like to recognize the the building comes down. assistance of Josh Come fill those Logger bleachers one last time, Rowlett and Suzanne take that last stroll down memory lane. Talbot with getting Makayla McCord, Brett Benes and Chrissy Garrison are the Tickets: the team ready for VHS Equestrian team. Adults $5 their upcoming season Raffle, Concessions & Vernonia to come and support their Equestrian team and providing lots of 6th Grade - High School $4 Baked Food Table in the upcoming meets held in McMinnville on laughter at practice. Coach K-5th Grade $3 March 8-11 and April 12-15 at the Yamhill County Benes would also like to Sponsored by OSEA Classified Employees of Vernonia School District Fairgrounds. encourage the people of VHS Alumni Basketball Game Sat, March 10th 6:00PM Boys & Girls Varsity vs. Alumni
