Two Teams from Coral Springs Middle School Robotics are headed to a global competition

Coral Springs, Florida – Two teams from the Coral Springs Middle School Robotics program traveled to Dallas, Texas, for the VEX Robotics World Championship.

They placed in the top 12 percent of the more than 400 teams that competed in the tournament, which ran from April 30 to May 5.

The team’s accomplishments filled Seema Naik, an engineer turned teacher, with pride. She teaches robotics. The robotics group is sponsored by her and Jennifer Roberts, a robotics teacher.

At Coral Springs Middle, there are five robotics teams that participated in a state tournament held in Miami. Two teams made it to the global competition, where they will face off against teams from the US and over 50 other countries.

Naik claims that the team members construct a robot in accordance with the game challenge by using engineering design procedures. It was Full Volume this year. The robot was constructed and programmed to play a game on a six-by-eight-foot field. The objective is to get the robot to place an object, such as a ball, into a goal in order to score as many points as possible in one minute. During the competition, the teams must also form alliances with other teams.

Together, the team members construct their robots starting in the summer and continuing through the rest of the year. They get together, collaborate on a design, and put in a lot of overtime to construct the robot. Every stage of the construction process needs to be documented. In order to program a robot that can drive and function independently, Naik claims that they have to go through a trial-and-error procedure.

“During the game, they must work together and strategize to score maximum points in one minute,” said Naik. “But after they reflect on what went well and what they can improve one.”

Meeting members of robotics teams from around the globe is one advantage of taking part in an international tournament.

“This was an exciting experience. We were able to meet teams from other places and learn from them,” said Rishi Pinapaka, 13, a seventh grader from Coral Springs.

Ayaan Desai, 14, an eighth grader from Coral Springs, said, “Going to the world competition was a good experience, and I liked seeing what other robotics teams are doing.”