Saturday is the last opportunity for the robotics teams from the Warsaw Area Career Center to qualify for the VEX Robotics World championship this year. After placing seventh out of 112 teams last Saturday, at least one Warsaw team is confident going into this weekend’s contest in Zionsville. The Indiana VEX Sack Attack State Championship Saturday has six qualifying spots for the VEX Robotics World Championship. Warsaw is taking five teams to the contest. According to teacher Abbi Richcreek, two Warsaw teams competed at Warren Central High School last Saturday, with team 4417A placing seventh, and team 4417B placing 43rd. Only the first-place team from that competition could move on to world competition. “I feel we will do very well in the upcoming competition,” she said. Team 4417B included senior Michael Meeker, sophomore Grant Monsma and freshman Ethan Horst. Team 4417A included seniors Jimmy Miller and Andrew Cox, junior Alexi Demopoulos and sophomores Nate Kiphart and Wesley Shuler. Demopoulos said his team was able to do so well, placing seventh, because everyone on the team understands their past. They made the best robot they could and planned ahead. Cox has an independent study, Demopoulos said, so he was able to spend one hour a day working on the robot. “It was just everyone getting together and making the best robot we could,” Demopoulos said. “It helps having the past experiences we’ve had.” From last Saturday’s competition, Cox said he learned quite a bit of the capabilities of the robot. “So I can realistically predict what it can do,” he said. During the matches, students have to control their robots to pick up as many bean bags as they can and put them in a trough. The high goal is worth more points than the trough. Teams can reduce other competitors’ scores by scooping their bean bags out. During the contests, Cox will only have 1 minute, 45 seconds of driver control with the robot. But he’s also taken the time to write an autonomous program for the robot to help the team score twice as much as they did before. “Where others score one point, ours will score 15, which will give us a big boost,” Demopoulos said. He said at last Saturday’s match, people saw the Warsaw team had a good robot so that will help with forming alliances with other teams. “We will have people want us on their team,” Demopoulos said, because they consistently do well. If they qualify for world competiton Saturday, Kiphart said, “That would be great! It would be all of our (robotics) dreams.” Cox’s job at Saturday’s contest will be the driving since he has the most experience, “and experience gives you the best edge,” he said. Demopoulos said the rest of the team will make sure the robot is ready for the race. As needed, they will replace batteries, tighten bolts or whatever else needs to be done. After each race, they will critique how they did and make minor adjustments as needed. “We are confident in our robot and it’s minor details now,” Demopoulos said. “We’re excited. Last week showed us we have a good robot and a good group.” “I’m excited for it,” Shuler agreed. “I wasn’t able to make the last one and this competition Saturday is my first of the year, so I’m excited for it. We have a good chance of doing well.” “I’m a little sad it’s my last, but my robotics over the years have taught me a lot about academics and performing in a team,” said Miller. “I thought we did really well last weekend.”
