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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Tuesday meeting: State-appointed panel to examine Rogue Valley's transportation future ... Morrison's Rogue River Lodge revitalized through acquisition ... Hannah Pearcey named Miss Rogue Valley ... Tuesday meeting: State-appointed panel to examine Rogue Valley's transportation future ... Morrison's Rogue River Lodge revitalized through acquisition ... Hannah Pearcey named Miss Rogue Valley ... FIRST ROBOTICS Ashland High students will compete in medieval-themed robotics competition Comment By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 11:00 PM Updated Mar 3, 2016 at 12:04 PM By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 11:00 PM Updated Mar 3, 2016 at 12:04 PM --> St. Mary's qualifies for regionals Two robotics teams from St. Mary's School also have been hard at work in the robotics world, recently qualifying for a 13-state regional championship... » Read more X St. Mary's qualifies for regionals Two robotics teams from St. Mary's School also have been hard at work in the robotics world, recently qualifying for a 13-state regional championship competition to be held March 24-26 in Oakland, Calif. The school's two teams, C4 and Trial 'N Terror, were among 14 teams from Oregon to qualify Sunday at the Oregon FIRST Tech Challenge Championship Tournament at Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, where 44 middle and high school teams competed. "Earlier this year, over 185 teams from around Oregon competed at league meets and qualifying tournaments, and the top-performing teams from these events participated in this weekend's championship," a news release from the Oregon Robotics & Outreach Program said. The teams participated in a game called "Res-Q," "modeled after rescue situations faced by mountain explorers all over the globe." Alliances of two robots score points by resetting rescue beacons, delivering rescue climbers to a shelter, and performing various other rescue-related tasks. — Ryan Pfeil » Social News The task at hand for Ashland High School's robotics team sounds like a fun sci-fi/fantasy mashup novel: Storm a castle with a robot. Over the past six weeks, the 40 students — aptly named Team 3024 for being the 3,024th in the FIRST Robotics nationwide network — have been hard at work making that idea a reality. On March 25 and 26, they'll join 34 other teams from Oregon and Washington at a district competition in Philomath, trying to guide their robot past a variety of castle defenses in teams of three. The theme is called "Stronghold." "Some of the defenses, they're called 'The Moat,' 'The Wall,' 'The Drawbridge,'" says 16-year-old Claire Pryor, student captain. "They're medieval-themed. They're actual obstacles." Each round is two and a half minutes long, with robots on their own for the first 15 seconds of play. A driver takes over after that. Once the siege-bots make it past the obstacles, they are tasked with hurling kickball-sized balls into goals, one of which is a 10-foot tower. If eight balls make it into the tower, it's considered weakened. If three robots surround the tower, it's considered captured. If the robots can scale the tower, teams get even more points. "There are points from crossing the defenses also," says coach and mentor Kathleen Wilson. It's a goal this and other teams around the Pacific Northwest have been working toward since Jan. 6. The students were preparing before that, though. "During the off-season, we started training new members on how to use equipment," says team captain Ember St. John, 18. "How to be safe in the workshop." Forty high school students make for a hefty team, but there are plenty of jobs for everyone, be it electrical, mechanical, software, outreach, fundraising and a host of others. "Some sub-teams, like fundraising and outreach, actually do more in the off-season than during the build season," St. John says. "Those teams were raising money, doing community outreach events, etc. Now, during the build season, mechanical and electrical teams are doing more, as well as the programming team." Team leaders say getting the word out is the reason so many other robot enthusiasts have come on board. "I think a big part of it is due to how much outreach we've been doing," Pryor says. "The past couple of years, we've started going and doing presentations at the middle school and showing them our robot, which has had a huge impact in our recruiting." On a Tuesday afternoon, team members were hard at work in an Ashland High School industrial arts classroom, with students working at a variety of separate tables and trying to put the finishing touches on their robot. It was the last day they could do any work on it under competition rules. Some less-important decisions remain, too: what to call the robot, for example. One possibility is "Swerve-bot." Then there are the more fantasy-sounding monikers: "Theoden" (from "Lord of the Rings"), "Dynne" (from "The Phantom Tollbooth") and "Ethelbert" (a 7th-century king). Decisions, decisions. The last six weeks have been a learning process on multiple levels. "Once a week, they're teaching kids how to solder, how to use the drill press, how to CAD," parent-volunteer Sonia Hill says. "It's astounding, absolutely astounding." Interpersonal skills, such as management, communication and public speaking, are strengthened, too, students say. "I was not a public speaker before at all. I could not speak in front of people for the life of me," says 15-year-old sophomore Madi Vann. "And now I'd say I can comfortably talk in front of a large group of people and be able to get my ideas out there." Teammates say learning how to move past what doesn't work has been key. "I think that's one of the best things about this season, how well we've learned from our mistakes," says Eryl Kenner. "This has been a pretty major year for us." For more information about Team 3024, see www.team3024.com . For more information about FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), visit firstinspires.org . Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil . By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Follow @@RyanPfeil Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 11:00 PM Updated Mar 3, 2016 at 12:04 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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