SciBorgs finish second at PNW district event

The SciBorgs pose for a group photo with their awards. At right: SciBorg drive team maneuvers to deliver another gear to the FRC Airship during a qualification match in Ellensburg.

The SciBorgs, the 4H Palouse Area Robotics team, competed at Central Washington University March 17-18 and finished second among 38 other teams.

The Vikotics from Garfield/Palouse High School were eliminated in the semifinals.

Going into the Pacific Northwest District Championships this weekend in Cheney, the Vikotics are ranked ninth, with the SciBorgs ranked No. 17.

A total of 155 teams represent the district, including Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program gives students from around Whitman County the framework to invent, design, build, test and compete with robots. At events they are problem-solving on-the-fly between matches, strategizing and scouting.

“Scouting is a huge part of the competition,” said Janice O’Toole, SciBorgs business mentor and parent of two Colton team members. “When the students speak to other teams, they gather information about robot capabilities and game strategy. Most importantly, teams network and establish lasting relationships. If you don’t scout, you know very little about other teams and who you might want to choose to form an alliance in the playoffs.”

In the 2017 “Steamworks” game format, the goal is to get as many gears as possible delivered to the team’s airship that is set on the playing field. A pilot pulls up the gear from the delivering robot and synchronizes multiple gears to start rotors on the airship. As the season progresses there is more and more defensive play. In one semifinal match in Ellensburg, the SciBorgs got into a pushing match and lost connectivity with the robot. With less than 30 seconds left in the match, the drive team finally made contact with the robot once again and raced to climb the airship rope―winning the match for the alliance.

The SciBorgs continue their record of 100 percent climbing points with every attempted climb.

Looking ahead to Cheney, the SciBorgs will compete with 64 of the top teams in this region April 6-8. Saturday's championships will be held at Reese Court at Eastern Washington University. Admission is free.

“You may want to bring earplugs―it’s part rock concert, part robot battlegrounds and all inspirational,” said Helena Johnson, SciBorgs mentor.

The top 36 teams from the Cheney match will compete in the world championships which will be held this year in two locations, Houston and St. Louis. Qualifiers at Cheney will go to Houston.