First place in the county robotics competition goes to Coral Glades JROTC

Coral Springs, Florida – At the school’s January Broward County robotics competition, the Coral Glades High School Army JROTC team, VEX Robotics Team, took first place.

All military branches’ Broward JROTC teams were invited.

Tausghanea Hutchinson is a JROTC member and senior at Coral Glades High School. She enjoys learning about programming and robotics. She competes with the VEX Robotics team in the program, which has received awards both locally and nationally. She constructs, programs, and fixes robots with her teammates so they can compete.

“We can program the robots to pick up and place blocks into containers and complete obstacle courses. We learn how to write code and get the robots to move,” said Hutchinson.

The junior Tony Eran also likes to construct and work with robots. “I like being able to program a robot to drag blocks around. It was fun to make the arm for a robot. We design robots here,” Eran said.

Marlon Simpson, a sophomore, likes working with technology. He can describe how to program a robot to complete various tasks. “I like programming and building robots. I have been programming a robot to drive faster. I like working with robotics,” said Simpson. The Coral Glades JROTC team earned first place.

Hutchinson claims that the teams use robots to play a game akin to soccer. Like a soccer ball, the robots pick up an acorn and try to put it in a goal. The teams are split into red and blue teams, and the acorns are utilized to score points utilizing both offensive and defensive tactics. “This is a fun and exciting game to play,” said Hutchinson.

Coral Glades robotics instructor Master Sergeant Charles Dean expressed his pride in the team and their work. “The students learn about mechanics and programming. They learn how to drive the robot,” he said.

The JROTC robotics team was unable to attend the state and national VEX robotics contests this year. They were able to take part in the national tournament held in Dallas the previous year, nevertheless.