Robotics competition vets sweep awards at regionals
Janel Shoun-Smith |
The Merrol Hyde Magnet School robot came in first place at the Southeast BEST regionals.
Sumner and Rutherford schools advance from Lipscomb competition to win top awards at regionals
Four Middle Tennessee schools that competed in the Nissan Music City BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) robotics competition held at Lipscomb University this past fall went on to win top awards at the Regional BEST competition held at Auburn University.
Out of the 56 teams from the Southeast competing at Auburn, Merrol Hyde Magnet School won first place in the robot operations competition and Central Magnet School won the first place BEST Award. Merrol Hyde is in the Sumner County school system and Central Magnet is in the Rutherford County school system.
Both teams have competed for several years at Music City BEST, which was established in 2006 and coordinated each year by the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering at Lipscomb. Nissan sponsors the competition, which involved hundreds of students each year in a six-week competition to build a robot that can most efficiently complete specific designated tasks.
“Sweeping first place in the two highest awards given at the regional championship is a result of the consistent growth in knowledge and skill among these two teams and the dedicated hard work these students put into the program,” said Michael Colletti, adjunct professor at the engineering college and coordinator of the BEST program. “We know that many of these students are excited about technology and are headed towards a successful career in engineering and science.”
At the Music City BEST competition in October, Central Magnet School won the first place BEST Award and second place in the robot operation competition. Merrol Hyde Magnet School won first place in the robot operation competition and the second place BEST Award.
In the BEST competition, student groups compete in various categories including the actual operation of the robot on game day, a project notebook detailing the design and construction of their robot, a marketing presentation for their robot design, an exhibit booth, an interview session, spirit and sportsmanship. The BEST Award is awarded to the team that scored the best in all the categories.
Four teams from the Music City BEST competition advanced to the regional competition. The Dickson Area Robotics home school team, from Dickson County, won the third place BEST Award and third place in the robot operation competition at Music City BEST and made it to the semifinals at the regionals and placed 11th overall at the regionals.
Discovery School, from Murfreesboro, earned third place in the project notebook competition at regionals.
In addition to its BEST Award, Central Magnet School placed fourth overall in robot operation at the regionals. They also won first place in the team exhibit design and construction competition and third place in the most elegant robot contest.
Merrol Hyde Magnet School won several additional awards including: the Top Gun Award for scoring the most points in a single match, the third place SolidWorks CAD Design Award, first place in the most photogenic robot contest and first place in the most robust robot contest.