Valley View Adventist Academy Robotics Team Wins in Florida
After qualifying with the Champions Award at the Regional Miramonte Lego Robotics tournament, Valley View Adventist Academy T-WaveTronics was invited to Forest Lake Academy host of the National Lego Robotics Tournament in Florida.
Led by team mentors Bob Bishop and Elmer Dale, nine students demonstrated their expertise in the Robot Game, Robot Design, and the Project Presentations.
The Project: The students looked for a more environmentally friendly option to the use of wood pulp in making cardboard. Their novel solution was to use kelp as one of the organic pulp materials and a more easily renewable resource. Each of the students participated in the verbal and visual project presentation before judges.
The Robot Game: Twenty-one teams participated in the National Challenge. Valley View’s T-WaveTronics won top honors in the Robot Performance also known as the Robot Game. The team had a best score of 440 and were the only team scoring over 400.
Robot Design: The students placed second with their Robot Design presentation which showcased their abilities to solve the robot missions presented in the Game.
Field trips while in Florida offered the group a chance to see the area and have even more fun. An airboat ride on one of the everglade’s lakes let the students view plenty of alligators up close in their natural habitat. Lots of birds and even a sleeping 2-foot turtle were also seen. The day after the tournament, the group had a blast cooling off at a water park.
Student Comments: “Even though we didn’t win the entire thing (challenge), we still had a lot of fun and are all so glad we got to participate in this wonderful club.” And “We highly recommend it to anyone who is in fifth grade up to eighth grade and loves building, programming, or even just working and having fun as a team!”
The team was supported by many generous private donors, parents, and the Pacific Union Education Department which made this memorable trip possible for the students.