MVHS Robotics Comes Out Strong In First Tournament

By IAIN MCMURRAY

The Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Robotics team competed in its first Vex Robotics tournament of the season on Saturday, Dec. 4. The second year robotics program at the school found itself competitive in the qualifying tournaments this year; enough so that the team earned an invitation to another tournament and to the Nevada State Competition.

The tournament started early, but the team was filled with excitement as they competed in six qualifier matches along with twenty-three other teams. The robot was built and programmed entirely by the students using parts from Vex Robotics, and work on the robot started all the way back in August.

This season’s competition is called Tipping Point. Points are scored by putting Pringle-like rings on goals.

The game starts with a fifteen second autonomous period where the robots must operate without human intervention, according to advance programming done by the team. After this, the robots continue into a 1 minute and 45 second driver-control period in which the robot is controlled by a member of the team.

The Pirates robot performed well, going undefeated in the qualifying matches and scoring the tournament high for points, 226, in their first match. This earned the team the number one seed for the elimination bracket where teams compete for the tournament winner.

The Pirates then won both the quarterfinals and semifinals to earn a spot in the finals match. However, they ended up losing the finals match.

“It was a really great experience to see how everything came together at the competition, and our team worked very well in a lot of ways,” said team member Isaac Linford. “Overall, we learned a lot and surprised a lot of people, and I’m really looking forward to our next competition in January.”

Team member Joey Barnes agreed. “Our team has come far from last season,” he said. “We learned a lot and see where we failed and where we were strong. But we still need some work to get to the top. I can’t wait to compete at state and see what the team can do.”

Head coach Bryan Linford said that it was an incredible competition. He said that after the teams very first triumphant match in the tournament, there had been a collective gasp from the audience. “I knew at that point that we were going to be a challenge to all,” he said.

“Our team worked really hard to make it to our first competition,” Linford added. “I am so proud of all they have accomplished. We have had to overcome a lot of challenges this year but that has made us stronger. A huge thanks to those who have sacrificed so much time and effort into making this team what we are today!”