Penn-Trafford students headed to Dallas for international robotics competition

Penn-Trafford High School students will soon go head-to-head against high-schoolers from across the globe in an international robotics competition.

In May, VEX Robotics will host its annual world championship in Dallas.

Two of Penn-Trafford’s five robotics teams qualified for the event.

The students will spend a week in the Lone Star State, where most of their time will be dedicated to competing in the bracket-style competition.

“It’s going to be a neat experience for the (students),” Penn-Trafford robotics instructor Jeff Newsom said. “It’s their Super Bowl.”

Some 800 high school teams will participate in the competition, which centers around a game called “Tipping Point.”

The teams will navigate their robots around a 12 foot by 12 foot field while trying to score as many points as possible. Points can be scored by placing small rings on mobile goals, moving mobile goals into a team zone and finishing the match on a seesaw-style platform.

Four teams will compete in each match, with the teams competing in pairs against each other.

Penn-Trafford’s teams consist of students in Newsom’s Robotics 3 and 4 courses.

Through participating in the robotics course and preparing for the championship, senior Kyle Gamble said he now “truly understands” engineering principles that are relevant to his intended career path in mechanical engineering.

Gamble expressed excitement for the May competition.

He and other students are preparing by practicing in a mock field — complete with rings, mobile goals and platforms — located in one of the high school’s classrooms. Students were required to use VEX pieces to construct their robots.

Senior Ean Smith was supposed to compete in the 2020 VEX Robotics World Championship, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year’s competition took place remotely.

This year, he’s excited to head to Dallas to finally compete in the international championship.

“The level of competition is going to be stepped up really high,” Smith said. “I think it’s going to be a learning experience.”

VEX Robotics offers the largest middle school and high school robotics program in the world. Over 20,000 teams participate globally.

Penn-Trafford’s teams needed to succeed in a state competition before qualifying for the world championship.

Smith and senior Alec Gilmore will compete with robot 1462D. Gamble, alongside sophomores Tyler Heidenreich and Zach Cassidy, will compete with the district’s other qualifying robot, 1462A.

Gamble, Heidenreich and Cassidy’s robot is not only equipped with game-winning pieces, but also with unique decorations — including a bell, Fox’s Pizza Den napkin, and stickers featuring characters like Barry B. Benson and Pepe the Frog.

“After we got started with the robot, it became pretty clear that we wanted to make it our own and give it as much personality as we possibly could,” Gamble said.

This competition and the robotics courses equip the students for jobs in fields like engineering, computer science and manufacturing.

Additionally, Newsom and his students agreed that students learn about time management, teamwork, and trial and error throughout the process.

Newsom believes the opportunity to compete and watch other teams compete will benefit the students immensely. Though Newsom guided his students as they created their robots, he said the robots are ultimately theirs.

“The robots that we take were designed, developed and built by (the students),” Newsom said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t help them… (but) it’s their robot, it’s their programming. They developed it.”