First Robotics Team to compete in world championship

Team 2130 Alpha + is grateful the community for its overwhelming support and are now qualified through their master earned a place to represent Bonners Ferry at the World Championship.   

As the team prepares for its journey, to the World Championship at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Mo., there are students interested in any jobs available to help earn money. Donations to support Team 2130 would also be graciously accepted and very much appreciated. Donations may be dropped off at Bonners Ferry High School. Contact head mentor Ed Kate at 267-3149 for additional information.

A little of what led the team to the World Championships:

On March 7,19 small town high school robotics students were given the opportunity to compete at the 2012 FIRST Robotics Autodesk Portland Regional, in Portland, Ore.

Members of the Bonners Ferry High School FIRST Robotics Team, 2130 Alpha +, went to where they competed against 66 other FIRST Robotics teams.

The day ended with the final awards ceremony.

Team 2130 Alpha + sat together in the stands just short of victory, cheering on the other teams. When the Engineering Inspiration Award was announced everyone listened carefully. The announcer said something like this bout our Bonners Ferry Robotics team:

“This award provides the winner with $5,000 and the chance to compete in the World Championship Competition in St. Louis.

This award recognizes a team that has worked to bring science, technology, math and engineering awareness to its community. The team is from a small rural town that has an impressive percent of its population on its FIRST Robotics team.

This team has a member who is a goat farmer but who has also programmed satellites aboard the International Space Station.  This team, located in northern Idaho, is FIRST Team 2130, Alpha+! Immense excitement erupted from the stands as Team 2130 members raced down to receive the award that would take them to the next level.  

It was a surprising and unexpected ending to the day.

The games that earned them this recognition were  Rebound Rumble, consisted of each team’s robot earning points by making baskets in a series of basketball hoops set at different heights, along with maneuvering robots through other obstacles, such as balancing on a bridge.

Arriving in Portland, the robot was unloaded and the team anxiously prepped for the practice rounds that would be held the following day. By just being in Oregon, team members felt they had achieved their goal before even stepping into the arena. Even though there was the possibility of breaking down or losing during qualification rounds, making it to Regional was their automatic win.

On  March 8 the practice rounds began. Team 2130 was the first team to pass inspection for appropriate design, weight and overall perimeter measurements of the robot. This day was not only for fine tuning and getting a real feel for competing on the field, but also for gathering information about the other teams.  Practice rounds went as planned and robots began building reputations.

Qualification rounds began the following day where Team 2130 worked its way to the top with a strategy of defense.  Due to its excellent performance, Alpha + ended the first day of qualifications rounds ranked number one out of 66 other teams in the competition. Some awards were presented to several teams that day.

Among those recognized was Alpha +, who happily received the Innovative in Control Award. This award was given to Team 2130 because of the technological ability of its robot.  In order to calculate the distance from the basketball hoops to its robot, Alpha + used a sonar sensor and camera angles to control the motor speed. Overall the judges were very impressed with the robot’s maneuverability and its control system capabilities.  

On Saturday morning, Alpha + ended the qualification rounds in fourth place and slid easily into the finals. The top eight teams that made it into the finals chose their alliances and the real competition, as to who would make it to the World Championship, began.

Unfortunately Alpha + lost on its way to the final match, to the teams who would go on to winning the Oregon Regional, and head to St. Louis.