Klamath Scrimmage readies robotics students for competition
/Seventy students from four high schools participate in Mazama-hosted event
Teams from Lost River and Mazama react as they “drive” their robots on the competition course.
A robot drops a square into the highest tower – standing at 39.5 inches – during the Klamath Scrimmage Friday at Mazama High School.
Seventy students. Four high schools. Sixteen robots.
Teams of robotics students from Mazama, Lost River, Bonanza and Henley high schools spent four hours Friday in friendly competition during the Klamath Scrimmage hosted by Mazama Robotics. The goal was to design and program their robots to perform specific tasks within a 2-minute time period.
“It’s just a friendly scrimmage to improve our designs before teams start Robotics VEX League in January,” said Laura Nickerson, Mazama Robotics coach and STEM&M teacher. “This enables the teams to get experience and work out the bugs.”
The scrimmage was Henley High School’s first foray into robotics competition. The school started a robotics club for the first time this fall and has two teams competing this year, said advisor and engineering teacher Kristi Lebkowsky. Robotics fits into the school’s robust engineering curriculum.
The winning team received a championship trophy created by Mazama senior and manufacturing student Cooper Hamilton. Referees were two Klamath Community College students – robotics veteran Louden Tyree, a 2017 Bonanza grad; and his friend Michael Diaz.
