Tuesday, January 22, 2019
East Oregonian
Regional robotics teams build
on each others’ strengths
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
As four robots, each
created by a different team
of students, enter the ring,
there’s more on the line than
winning a competition.
“The number one thing
that makes a good robot
is teamwork,” said sixth-
grader Annette Allen,
of Pendleton’s Sunridge
Middle School.
Each round of the FIRST
Tech Challenge, part of a
nationwide robotics league,
tests the skills of each
group. But it also requires
them to work outside their
team. During each round
of competition, they are
assigned “alliances” with
other groups, and two teams
will work together to score
points.
“The robots have the same
general outline every year,
but have different goals,”
said Maddie Thompson, a
junior on Pendleton High
School’s robotics team.
In this year’s competition,
the goal is to move pieces of
debris, called “elements,”
into the center of the arena,
either on the ground or into
a “moon lander,” an object
in the middle of the arena.
There are two corners of
the arena called craters,
which are filled with silver
(whiffle balls) and gold
(blocks). The robots have
to move those elements
to the center of the arena,
either by pushing them into
a square on the ground, or
by depositing them into the
“moon lander,” an object in
the center of the arena. The
robots can also score points
by climbing onto the moon
lander.
“If you can get up from
the ground with nothing
touching, that’s 80 points,
which is amazing,” said
Elizabeth
Benedict,
a
Sunridge Middle School
seventh-grader.
Nineteen middle and
high school teams from
Umatilla, Pendleton, La
Grande and Cove were at
the Pendleton Convention
Center on Saturday, hoping
to use the competition to
make it to the next round,
the February “superquali-
fier” in Hillsboro.
The competition tests
students’ coding skills as
well as direct control of the
robot. During the “auton-
omous”
portion,
team
members have 30 seconds to
pre-program instructions to
a smartphone that controls
the robot.
“You can tell it, if you
see this color, you must
be here, or if you iden-
tify this picture, you must
be at this location,” said
Collin Rovey, an eighth-
grader on the robotics team
from Cove. “Eight seconds
after that, we have the driv-
er-controlled portion, where
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Collin Tovey, Taylor Fox and Connor Kimbro, of Cove’s Nerd Herd team, work together to
control their robot as it completes a variety of tasks Saturday at the Pendleton Convention
Center.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Freddie Schrier and Annette Allen, of Sunridge Middle
School, work together to control their robot as it completes
a variety of tasks Saturday at the Pendleton Convention
Center. Their team name, G.I.R.L.S., stands for Girls in
Robotics Lovin’ Science.
you can switch programs
and do everything off the
controller.”
Sunridge Middle School
had an all-girl team, the
“G.I.R.L.S.,” or Girls in
Robotics Lovin’ Science,
team. As they started their
first competition of the day,
Freddie Schreier directed
Allen, who drove the robot,
named “Eve” after the
movie “Wall-E.”
“Nice try,” she cheered
her teammate, as the robot
bumped into the wall. “Go
back, try again.”
The G.I.R.L.S. team
said they all have different
tasks — one is the robot’s
primary driver, one focuses
on coding, and one is the
build director — but they
make it a point to spend time
learning the other skills, in
case they need to step in for
each other.
A team of Pendleton
high-schoolers said they’ve
also learned to focus on
doing one task really well,
utilizing their alliances with
other teams.
“Our main goal was to
climb, and we can pretty
much climb every time,”
said junior Landon Thorn-
burg. “We wanted to use
elements, but we focused on
one thing at a time. Having
two teams that can do one
thing reliably is better.”
Rovey said he and his
team, all eighth-graders,
based their robot’s core
design off the instructions
on the FIRST website, but
made some changes as they
went along.
“We
increased
the
boom (the arm that picked
up items), and replaced a
bucket with a claw,” he said.
They removed a second
motor that wasn’t working
effectively.
Other teammates main-
tain the engineering note-
book, where they take
pictures, diagram their
plans, and keep track of the
building process. The engi-
neering notebook becomes
part of each team’s score.
“Even if they don’t
place top 10 in the robotics
competition, they could still
advance,” said organizer
Curt Thompson. “They’re
scored on teamwork, their
response, the engineering
notebook. It’s not just the
competition.”
As the teams worked,
a group of Umatilla High
School students were there
as mentors for younger
students. The group of seven
high-schoolers are in their
own competition league,
the First Robotics Challenge
(FRC) league.
“I help out with program-
ming and software issues,”
said Naomi Wyckoff, a
UHS junior. She said part of
the job is stepping away, and
letting the younger students
figure things out for them-
selves. “The code they use
is different from mine now,”
Wyckoff said. “But it’s really
cool seeing all the kids who
want to work hard. Some-
times you have to let them
make their own mistakes.”
Like many students in the
robotics program, Wyckoff
said she hopes to go into
technology or science after
high school.
“I want to go into hard-
ware or software develop-
ment,” she said. “And hope-
fully I can come back and
mentor these teams, too.”
A3
Irrigon rape defendant
returns to county jail
East Oregonian
HEPPNER — Rape
defendant Eduardo Salas
of Irrigon is back in the
Umatilla County Jail after
bailing out in 2017.
Salas, 61, has pleaded
not guilty to one count
of attempted first-degree
sexual abuse, two counts
of first-degree rape and
nine counts of first-degree
sexual abuse for harming
two girls younger than 12
between April 1, 2016, and
May 28, 2017. He posted
$10,000 bail on July 27,
2017, and had to live under
security release condi-
tions, including not having
contact with either victim
and staying at least 500
feet from them.
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office arrested
Salas on Jan. 7 and returned
him to the Pendleton jail
for violating conditions of
his release. Deputy district
attorney Richard Tovey
in court documents stated
Salas should remain in jail
after coming too near one
of the victims.
Tovey in his declaration
to the court stated Morrow
County sheriff’s deputy
Lance Bose responded to
a report from a relative of
a victim in the case. That
led Bose to review security
camera footage showing
Salas was within 500
feet of one victim for 6-8
minutes at a gas station.
Bose also contacted Salas
who said he was at the
station but did not recog-
nize the girl.
Circuit Judge Eva
Temple in response signed
the warrant for Salas’
arrest and upped his bail to
$300,000.
District Attorney Justin
Nelson on Jan. 9 asked the
court to allow the sheriff’s
office to use an electric
stun belt and belly chains
on Salas when he is court
based upon a recommen-
dation from the sheriff’s
office. Circuit Judge Jon
Lieuallen approved that
request Jan. 10. Lieuallen
also noted the court would
review the necessity for the
restraints with prosecu-
tion and defense attorneys
before hearings begin.
The next proceeding in
the case is a trial readiness
hearing Thursday.
BRIEFLY
Symphony begins rehearsals for spring
HERMISTON — Rehearsals for the spring concerts of
the Willow Creek Symphony recently started.
The preparatory orchestra of the Inland Northwest
Musicians, the ensemble features younger musicians or
adults who may have recently picked up their instruments
again. No auditions are required to participate. The group
is rehearsing each Tuesday from 6-7:30 p.m. at Armand
Larive Middle School, 1497 S.W. Ninth St., Hermiston.
The Willow Creek Symphony will perform free
concerts Thursday, March 14 at the Hermiston Commu-
nity Center and Saturday, March 16 at Ione Community
School. The performance times will be announced.
Founded in 1999, Inland Northwest Musicians is
committed to providing live musical performances to
rural audiences. It fosters an atmosphere of encourage-
ment and assists musicians in developing their talent.
For information, contact 541-289-4696, inwm@
machmedia.net or inlandnorthwestmusicians.com.
Libraries set kids reading promotion
Children who use their Ready 2 Learn library card in
the month of January will be entered in a drawing for a
chance to win an early learning gift pack.
As a way to encourage early learning and visits to the
library, the promotion is open to children ages 0 to 5 with
a Ready 2 Learn card. The program is available at most
libraries in Umatilla and Morrow counties.
For more information, visit ready2learnoregon.weebly.
com, search Facebook or stop by your local library.
Guide offers help to family, caregivers
PENDLETON — A free online resource guide for
family caregivers and seniors was recently launched by
Prestige Care, which is the parent company of McKay
Creek Estates in Pendleton.
People are encouraged to check out the site, which
provides information about changes in daily living that
come with age. The Senior Guide to Healthy, Fulfilled
Living covers topics that older adults and their loved ones
experience. Visit prestigecare.com/they-deserve-the-best.
Mom & Baby
Support Group
Commission to plan last five years
of downtown improvement projects
East Oregonian
In the 15 years since the
the city of Pendleton estab-
lished the urban renewal
district, it’s spent $5 million
into improvement projects
in downtown Pendleton and
the surrounding area. It will
be tasked with spending
another $5 million before
the district expires in four
years.
How the city spends the
money as the district’s time
winds down to its 2023
demise will be the subject
of the Pendleton Devel-
opment Commission on
Tuesday.
The commission’s advi-
sory committee prepared
a report that went over the
city’s options.
The urban renewal had
made its largest investment
— $1.4 million — in its
façade grant program.
But applications are
slowing as the list of eligible
buildings dwindle, and
one of its other marquee
programs, the upper story
grant program, has been
slow to pick up as prop-
erty owners say renovation
in their second story spaces
is still too expensive even
with an incentive.
The report states that
activity could pick up now
that the upper story grant
has been increased from 25
percent to 40 percent or the
growth in the unmanned
aerial systems industry
increases
demand
for
second story housing in the
downtown area.
But how often the urban
renewal district’s incen-
tive programs are used is
largely out of the develop-
ment commission’s hands.
“However, even with
the PDC’s program grants
as incentives, it is up to the
property owners to choose
to apply for grants that will
ultimately improve down-
town Pendleton and other
parts of the urban renewal
area,” the report states. “If
they do not choose to apply,
despite the incentives,
then the projects won’t be
implemented.”
The advisory committee
suggests developing a
marketing plan by February
and begin implementing in
April.
The plan could include
sending mailers or holding
meetings for prospective
developers. The city could
also solicit city-owned prop-
erties and open negotiations
for further incentives.
If the city isn’t seeing
enough
development
activity in the urban renewal
district by the end of 2020,
the advisory committee
recommends investing the
district’s remaining funds
into public projects.
If it goes that route, the
city would collect public
input before designing
and constructing its own
projects.
The council meeting
will be held Tuesday at the
council chambers in city
hall, 500 S.W. Dorion Ave.
We meet every Friday 9AM -11AM
at St Anthony Hospital
in Conference Rooms 3 & 4
This support group is Free and
specifically geared toward
Moms and Caregivers.
We provide Free snacks, support,
breastfeeding help and baby weigh ins.
St. Anthony Clinic
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.PENDLETONPSYCH.COM OR CALL US AT
541-278-2222
55259
55259
3001 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, Oregon
www.sahpendleton.org