schools
march21
2019
11
Loggerbots Head to First Competition of the Season
Vernonia team participate in
area robotics competitions
By Scott Laird
The Vernonia Loggerbots, team
4127, had a good showing at their initial
FIRST Robotics competition of the year
at the Clackamas Academy of Industrial
Sciences in Oregon City on March 15-
16.
Engineering instructor Brett
Costley, along with Educational Assis-
tant Camrin Eyrrick, have been assisting
the students with developing their robot,
receiving mechanical, technical, and
construction expertise from volunteers
Jack Finzel and Jay Anderson.
“We got a lot of help from
OMIC (Oregon Manufacturing and In-
dustry Center) this year,” said Costley.
“OMIC provided a lot of financial sup-
port for the three teams from Columbia
County schools, along with providing
other components of the robot. They’ve
been really generous and really seem
like they want to help.”
FIRST (For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology)
Robotics competitions prepare students
to solve real world problems through ro-
botics challenges that inspire innovation
and leadership while igniting curiosity
and passion to explore the worlds of sci-
ence, engineering, and technology.
FIRST offers four international
programs for K-12 students. The Ver-
nonia Loggerbots participate in FIRST
Robotics Challenge, designed for stu-
dents in grades 9-12. FIRST also offers
a Tech Challenge for students in grades
7-12, and two LEGO competitions for
students K-8.
The Loggerbots compete in the
Pacific Northwest Division and can at-
tend two of 10 scheduled regional events
during six weekends in March and early
April. They compete against teams from
all over Washington and Oregon, includ-
ing Portland, Hillsboro, Gresham, Eu-
gene, Hood River, Bend, Ashland, As-
toria, Brookings, Blachly, Battleground,
Chehalis, and even a team from Anchor-
age, Alaska. Teams from all over the
United States compete in FIRST events
each spring.
Each year FIRST develops a
new test for the Robotics Challenge,
with several opportunities for competing
teams to create a moving robot that per-
form tasks to score points.
This year’s challenge is called
Destination: Deep Space in which two
competing alliances are collecting sam-
ples on planet Primus. Unpredictable ter-
rain and weather patterns make remote
robot operation essential to their mission
on the planet. With only 2:30 until lift-
off, the alliances must gather as many
cargo pods as possible and prepare their
spaceships before the next sandstorm ar-
rives.
Instructor Brett Costley helped
explain what his robotics team actu-
ally needs to do during the competition.
“Teams are randomly matched with
two other teams to form an alliance and
work together. At the start of each 2:30
round driver visibility is reduced for 15
seconds so the robots have to indepen-
dently follow pre-programmed instruc-
tions or are operated by human drivers
by video camera; our team is using vid-
eo. Alliances score points by gathering
hatch panels and placing them at differ-
ent heights on a rocket ship or loading
cargo, which are balls. At the end they
score points by climbing a three-tiered
platform in the playing area.”
Teams score more points in a va-
riety of ways for placing hatches higher
on the rocket, for climbing higher on the
platform, and for cooperating with the
other teams in their alliance. Costley
says the Loggerbots robot can climb to
the second tier and can place hatches on
the lowest level of the rocket. Their ro-
bot is unable to move the cargo (balls).
Costley says one unique feature
of the Loggerbot robot is a ramp they
can deploy which will allow another
team in their alliance to reach the high-
est level on the platform and earn extra
“ranking points.” “Our team made a de-
sign decision at the beginning to develop
the ramp and make us a valuable alliance
partner for other teams,” explains Cost-
ley. “Every year there is some kind of a
climb at the end. Getting to the highest
level is always a fairly complicated task
and is worth a lot of points and worth
ranking points, which is what really mat-
ters for advancing. We think it’s a really
cool idea, and it’s cooperative.”
The Loggerbots struggled early
in the first day of the two-day competi-
tion, but ended strong, winning their fi-
nal three matches in a row. They ended
day one with 3 wins, 6 loses and 1 tie
and were in 23 rd place out of 36 teams
heading into the second day of competi-
tion. The Loggerbots did especially well
continued on page 17
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