Twenty-seven teams compete in Peachtree District robotics tournament in Albany

Apr. 2—ALBANY — With the clock ticking, Alex Van Aacken and Adriano Hagedon scrambled during Friday's lunch break to disassemble part of their robot with the goal of fixing a bent arm on the Woodward Academy robot entry.

The arm is part of an assembly that allows the robot to climb a series of rungs that earn extra points in matches. The machine was damaged during one of the 12 morning matches on Friday, with 41 more scheduled up to noon the following day ahead of finals matches starting at 1 p.m. Saturday in the FIRST Robotics Peachtree District Qualifier tournament in Albany.

Twenty-seven teams were vying for points in the weekend tournament at the Albany Civic Center sponsored by Procter & Gamble to earn a berth in state competition in Macon next weekend.

"Now they're trying to extract the motor," Tim Hipp, the team's mentor and chair of the Atlanta-area school's Computer Science Department, said. "So they know they have an hour to get this fixed.

"You have to bring the parts, you bring all the tools, so it's very similar to NASCAR. Do they have the time to do it in an hour? They think they do."

The competition is very collegiate, and teams looking to make quick fixes freely share tools with others, making it unlike the more fierce competition in other high school sports, Hipp said.

Teams have to make repairs on the fly as robots break down.

If the repairs weren't made, Woodward's robot would continue competition, but it would be limited to shooting baskets. The other way to score in the matches is sinking balls (cargo in competition lingo) into two goals, two points for the high goal and one point for the lower one.

Georgia Power Co. provides a custom-built machine shop — a truck pulled up to the loading dock — in which teams can make repairs. Albany's tournament was the last of four qualifying competitions.

"We do that for all the competitions around the state," said Jay Smith, Georgia Power's area manager in Albany.

The company's direct interest is in developing skilled workers for the future, whether it's line workers, station managers or engineers, Smith said.

"It's also part of our economic development efforts around the state, part of which is developing the state's work force," he said. "If you're going to attract industry, you need skilled workers.

"This is always fun to watch. Every year they give a different challenge. This year it's climbing."

Teams are given the parameters of the challenge in late December and are allowed to start building the machines in January for the spring competition events. Schools' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students design, build and wire the robots to perform the outlined tasks.

In addition to the STEM work, each team includes marketing and other divisions.

Part of her role as marketing captain of her team is taking a lead role in budgeting, fundraising, managing meetings and keeping sponsors informed of activities, Aubrey Henry with the Commodore Conyers College & Career Academy 6916 Commodores squad said.

"I feel really comfortable with the team," said Henry, a senior whose future plans are to become a real estate agent and start her own company. "We get a lot of experience inside and outside the field, inside and outside the school. You learn a lot of different things."

The robotics experience also helps the school, which students from other Dougherty County School System schools attend part-time, in other ventures, Henry said. Among those are a hydroponic garden system that will be planted and maintained with a computer system.

Produce from the academy's outdoor garden goes toward feeding area residents who do not have access to fresh food.

At the Worth County iRambots team area nearby, several female students were among those tending to the team's robot. As many as 50 percent of the team's members have been girls in recent years, said 11th-grader Anna Melvin.

Like all of the competitors, much of the competition is new because the previous two years of tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is my first year," said Melvin, who is outreach team leader for the iRambots. "It started with my brother. I wanted to support him. Also, our outreach program had an opening, so I was really open to joining the team."