2015-2016 School Year
NEWS Thundercats excel at BEST robotics competition (demingheadlight.com)
October 11, 2015
Thundercats excel at BEST robotics competition
Article by Las Cruces Sun-News
LAS CRUCES — Science, technology, engineering and math came to life Saturday on the campus of New Mexico State University in a competition well suited for the gymnasium inside the James B. Delamater Activity Center on the New Mexico State University campus. More than 400 students from across New Mexico, Eastern Arizona and West Texas gathered to compete in the NM BEST, which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology, robotics competition.
“On the game field, this year’s theme was mining. Their robots were designed to meet the parameters of this year’s competition,” said Tracey O’Neil, the competition’s program manager.
The robots have to navigate the field, much like an obstacle course, and collect different “minerals” — represented by golf balls, sections of PVC pipe and balls of aluminum foil, for instance. Each task has a point value attached to it, and the teams with the highest scores advanced through a bracket system as the day progressed.
“I’ve done BEST for the past five years, and a lot of teams have gotten really competitive,” O’Neil said. “They’ve really stepped up their game to compete in all six components of the competition — an engineering notebook, marketing presentation, spirit and sportsmanship, exhibits and interviews and website.”
Middle school students compete alongside high school students, O’Neil said, so they have to work just as hard to be competitive.
“It gets better every year,” said Steve Stochaj, interim dean of NMSU’s College of Engineering. “Some of these robots are very, very intricate. When we first started BEST, some of the robots looked like they had been thrown together at the last minute. There’s none of that this year. They’re all highly refined robots.”
Hands-on learning
Nearly all of the teams that competed Saturday were part of robotics clubs or after-school programs. When asked what the students get from the NM BEST competition that they don’t get in classrooms, their responses were almost always the same.
“You get hands-on experience,” said Esmeralda Montes, 18, who is a senior at Hatch Valley High School.
“It’s not just in a classroom, observing. You are actually building it, you’re making everything from brochures, to the exhibit, to the robot — you’re doing it all,” added Adrianna Gonzalez, a fellow 18-year-old senior.
“I want to become a mechanical engineer, and everything that I’ve learned will really help me,” said Jasmine Perrault, 15, a freshman at Arrowhead Park Early College High School. “We’ve learned to wire stuff, how to build using a very limited amount of materials — all of that is really beneficial.”
Arrowhead Park’s team was called The Olympians, and their robot was called the Olympian 3600.
“We all built it, as a group,” said Shiloh Payne, 14, a freshman at Arrowhead Park. “Everyone shared the same role in creating the robot. We all came up with ideas about how we should build it, and what tasks we should focus on.”
Shiloh said that just about every team builds their robots with a focus on excelling at one or two tasks, because each round is only three minutes long.
The glass ceiling
Much has been made of the gender gap in STEM-related careers. At the NM BEST competition, the genders seemed to be represented equally.
“I’ve always grown up an advocate for women in STEM,” said Catalina Sanchez-Maes, a 15-year-old sophomore at Arrowhead Park. “My older sister, Sophia Sanchez-Maes, has always done robotics, and me and my little sister have followed in her footsteps.”
Catalina said that she has been involved in programs like Young Women in Computing, BEST, First Lego League, and the FIRST Robotics Competition since she was little. She said she feels that women are beginning to close the gender gap.
“We certainly are — especially with all of the incentives being given to women, to actually bring them into the field,” Catalina said. “And I hear some men saying ‘Oh, well you’re getting paid to learn coding, with YWiC and all that stuff.’ But if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes. Total equality is just dystopian, but the incentives help move us toward a utopian goal.”
Maddy Jackson, a 14-year-old freshman from Deming High School, said getting involved in robotics and the NM BEST competition has been rewarding, and that those who haven’t tried it are missing out on a great experience.
“Girls who are involved in robotics get to experience something that most girls haven’t, because it’s stepping out of their comfort zone, and into a field that is mostly dominated by guys,” Maddy said.
Natalia Pacheco, 15, a sophomore at Deming High School, said BEST helps young girls discover the excitement of engineering.
“Sometimes women don’t have the same opportunity as men, to be engineers. I think that this is a great step toward that — toward breaking down that wall,” Natalia said.
“It’s important that women get the same opportunities as men in such a broad field that offers such a wide variety of jobs — especially because it’s always been considered a ‘man’s job,’” added Gabbie Stager, 15, who is a sophomore at Deming High. “In today’s age, there are a lot of engineering jobs that are available to women, but it’s important that we start learning about this stuff while we’re young.”
Damien Willis can be reached at 575-541-5468 or dawillis@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @damienwillis.
Deming High Thundercats excel at robotics
Article by For the Headlight Deming High Thundercats excel at robotics (demingheadlight.com)
Science and technology grows by the minute, by the hour and daily. And so do the Deming High Thundercats. On October 10, the Thundercats Robotics Team at Deming High School will travel to compete in the BEST (Boosting Engineering and Science Technology) competition at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
A field of 35 teams from schools in New Mexico will challenge in a competition covering robotics, creativity and engenuity. The competition is heated, but fair in a display of goodwill and sportsmanship .
The Thundercats began their season on August 29, and had six weeks to build a robotic that would be specific to the course of competition at BEST tournament at NMSU..
This year’s theme for competition will be “Pay Dirt.” Competing against other teams in a four-team match, they will lan to collect ore and other game pieces. Every match will change the value of the game pieces, making them increase or decrease in points.
Before the actual competition, a Mall Day will be held at Mesilla Valley Mall in order to test the robots in a competition setting and give shoppers a chance to see what high school students are up to in classroom. Mall Day is scheduled at 10 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 3.
The Thundercats invite the community, and Wildcat fans, to support them at this event. They hope to go far in the tournament at NMSU, and go on to a regional platform in Dallas.
The Thundercats was started back in 2002 by Steve Goodgame, a science teacher at DHS.. It is currently under the direction of David Wertz, as well as Teresa Hutts and David Jaramillo.
Team Thundercats attends two robotics competitions each school year – BEST, which is held in the fall, and FIRST (For Inspiration of Science and Technology), which is held in the spring.
In order to succeed in events like these, teamwork comes into play. With an average of 25 members each year, the team must work together to increase its odds of doing well. Building, programming, design, writing, videography, photography, and business/marketing skills are all utilized in the team. With a good robot and good attitudes, the Thundercats hope to “Blow Your Mines,” while collecting precious metals and minerals at the annual BEST competition.
Robotics team hopeful for next year
Article by Deming Headlight Robotics team hopeful for next year (demingheadlight.com)
DEMING – Ever pushing the technological boundaries, students from Deming High School competed in a regional robotics competition Saturday against schools from around the area.
The DHS Afterschool Robotics Team “Thundercats” competed Saturday, October 22, 2016 in the Regional Robotics Competition at New Mexico State University. Bringing their motorized and maneuverable claw robot, the team tested the six-week project in a course designed to challenge the efficiency of the robot.
ART has competed in events similar to Saturday’s in the past and has returned to Deming with victories in their categories. Although the team did not bring home a winning trophy from this competition, ART Media Spokesman Gabriel Mesta says the loss has provided a learning experience for the team and given them drive for next year.
“The Deming High School team played well but faltered around the ending of the semifinals,” said Mesta after the contest. “Our well designed robot made for very competitive play, and our loss only boosted our moral.”
Going off of a modification of their last year’s robot design, the team decided to make minor adjustments in the robot to make it better suitable for the competition course. The course included a variety of obstacles for the remote controlled robot to overcome including grabbing and precision driving activities. Time was also a factor in the course and students had to maneuver the robot around with precision and accuracy.
The team is a student-run club which designs and creates the robots to their exact specifications. Planning and practice are needed to master the controls of the robot, which is designed for grabbing objects and moving them across a plain. Students do all of the design, work and fundraising for the projects while sponsors advise them and assist on minor questions and critiques.
“It’s nice to see them have an idea, take it through, build it and figure out a few things to make it better,” said Faculty Sponsor David Wertz. “Five weeks ago, this was just talk. We didn’t have anything.”
With prototyping and construction, the finished robot, ready for competition, was completed in just over a week. Students participating in robotics can use the skills learned and continue to pursue the field in college where the robots get more innovative and the challenges also get a level up.
DHS Robotics are also responsible for the T-shirt launches at various DHS sporting events. The team built the launcher and uses it for promotion and fundraising for the club.
Jesse Moya can be reached at 575-546-2611 (ext 2608) or at jmoya@demingheadlight.com.