A top-five finish two weeks ago in which the CoeBotics team at Coe Elementary School took the Teamwork category in the First Lego League regional competition, meant an unprecedented visit to the state championships Saturday in Bellevue where the third, fourth and fifth-graders would do battle with many a middle schooler.
Forty teams from around the state showed up Saturday at Bellevue High School to see which could make its programmed rubber-wheeled robots with the Lego chassis move seamlessly along tricky obstacle courses.
While the 10-member CoeBotics team maintained their composure in the beginning minutes of the competition, the robot wigged out a bit under the unusual setting. Coach Willem Scholten said the light sensors of the robot had to be recalibrated to the brighter lights hanging above the practice obstacle course. But when it came to compete on the main course, the lights were turned off and were to stay off per the request of the other competitors.
"This caused us not to be able to run ours right and we protested," Scholten said. The jury sided with the protest and allowed CoeBotics to recalibrate again, only this time the team could not ask the coach for help.
Far from discouraged, the whole team got up, regrouped and came up with the idea to use its own game mat, roll it out on the floor alongside the competition tables and let fate take over. It worked. The robot advanced and turned like the Mars Rover. And the team advanced to round three.
The coach estimated at least 400 people were in the high school gym cheering for their teams. There was also a large video screen broadcasting the competition. But round three would be the last for CoeBotics. Minor glitches and some programming foibles had sent the robot off course.
While the team came away with no prizes, Scholten was proud and impressed with its accomplishments.
"Even though it's about robotics, it encourages the kids, in many ways, to work as a team and I really like that," Scholten said. "I think for an elementary school team being there for the first time among mostly middle school teams, I think the team was amazing."
This was the first robotics team for Coe and the first time coaching for Scholten, whose daughter, Mirabelle, is a student and team member. Last year, Scholten was one of the technical producers for the school's annual opera.
After the competition, most of the team went and celebrated at Olympia Pizza, where they talked about competing next spring.
"We're going to meet this week, recap and talk about what to do in the spring," Scholten said. "The team wants to stay together."
CoeBotics are Mirabelle Scholten, Lukas Piper, Gina Goetz, Livvy Eickerman, Gabriel Houk, Beck Svaren, Duncan Jenny, Clayton Hollobaugh, Blythe Eickerman and Casey Cooper.[[In-content Ad]]
