Sylvania robotics team wins judge s award in regional

3/25/2007

A Sylvania city high schools robotics team won a judge s award given at this weekend s FIRST Buckeye Regional Robotics Competition in Cleveland.

The team, which calls itself Cat Attack and is sponsored by Dana Corp., finished 18th out of 58 teams in the competition. But it snagged one of only two judge s awards, according to Sally Harrington, a spokesman for the FIRST competition which is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

The competition at Cleveland State University s Wolstein Center asked students to use their robots practicing dexterity, skill, and strategy for a game called Rack n Roll.

Each match was to start with a 15-second autonomous period during which the robots move according to their pre-programming.

During the remaining two minutes of the game, they were to be remotely guided by the students.

Each year the game, scoring, playing field, and strategy change. Teams get that information in January, along with a kit of parts to use in building their robot.

The event is sponsored in part by NASA and several foundations.