Naselle and Wahkiakum compete at Robotics Cup

The fourth annual KM Robotics Cup was completed Thursday, March 19. This is a culminating competition between middle school students in Wahkiakum and Naselle school districts. A total of 15 robots battled it out through a double-elimination tournament in which Wahkiakum's team of Leo and Carter placed first, Dylan and Keely placed second, and Phillip and Xander placed third.

After the tournament was completed, we held some "battle royales" with seven "roboto" from Naselle and eight from Wahkiakum, all in the 12 foot by 12 foot ring at once. It took five rounds to determine a winner. The first two rounds ended in 0-0 ties then the teams huddled to develop strategies. Naselle came out with the first win (40-0), and looked like they were going to dominate, but Wahkiakum came back in the fourth round to pull out a win. Both clubs again huddled to plan strategy. In a close finale, Wahkiakum pulled out the second win.

One more competition was held, with the two clubs playing "push-a-war" against a high school (HS) FTC-sized robot. These are about three times bigger and five times more powerful than the middle school (MS) robots. If the HS robot could stay on or near the "50-yard line" of the arena, both MS clubs lose and the HS team wins. If the Wahkiakum club could push the HS robot past the 20-yard line on the Naselle side, Wahkiakum wins. Same for the Naselle club to the Wahkiakum side. Both clubs again huddled. The HS robot driver actually looked a little worried, with 15 MS robots preparing to attack. Naselle came up with the plan to have their robots lower their claws, drive under the HS robot, then lift, and the plan worked! They carried the HS robot off the ground and over the Wahkiakum goal line to win the final competition of the day. Loud cheering erupted from both MS clubs, while a few of us felt sorry for the HS robot that could do nothing except helplessly spin its wheels.

Congratulations are in order for coaches Jim Moten from Naselle and Eric Hansen from Wahkiakum, as both clubs represented very well. Naselle and Wahiakum have ongoing robotics engineering programs that are always looking for mentors and support. Contact each district's office to get involved. The next local event is the Seaperch Qualifier at the Julia Butler Hansen Cathlamet pool on Thursday March 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.