Harker’s robotics team  participated in mid-March in the University of California, Davis Sacramento Regional, where Eric Nelson, the robotics advisor, received the prestigious Mentor of the Year award. The Davis tournament was an excellent opportunity for the team to introduce its influx of freshmen students to robotics competitions as well testing its robot against teams from Northern California and the Sacramento Valley.

Robotics competitions involve pitting robots against each other in a game. This year’s game was called Robot Rumble, in which robots attempted to score points by shooting foam balls into basketball-like hoops of varying heights. The robots were controlled by a Kinect motion-sensing device as well as by remote controls. To see an entertaining animated walkthrough of the game, please click here.

Though Harker’s shooter had some minor problems, the team was confident they could have a fully-functional and proficiently-working robot at its next competition. Abhinav Khanna, grade 12, the team’s press liaison, said, “Overall, the team had an excellent opportunity to bond and put our engineering abilities to the test, and in the end, every member came away with a better understanding of the game.” The team also participated in the Silicon Valley Regional at the end of March – watch for the report – and will enter the championships in late April.