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
