Westlake Christian Academy wins regional robotics competition

On March 14, Westlake Christian Academy located in Grayslake Illinois, sent two teams to the Chicago Regional Robotics competition. Westlake Christian Academy’s Middle School team – named T.E.D. – took home the overall 1st Place Trophy and a place in the National Competition to be held at the University of Massachusetts -Dartmouth. The High School team– S.A.J. (pronounced “sage”) – took home 2nd place in the Poster Competition that included a technical interview by judges.

Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, over 100 local teams spent months preparing to enter the competition by building Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs). The competition, named for the famous submarine USS Perch, requires the teams to complete an obstacle course comprised of six underwater 22 inch hoops, a finesse course requiring the manipulation of three separate underwater devices, and a poster competition which entails every team member explaining the concepts,components and design options used in building their underwater ROV to Navy and Civilian Engineer judges.

Held at the Naval Station Great Lakes Recruit Training Command Pool, the competition was divided into High School and Middle School teams with one coming as far as Minnesota to compete. Out of more 100 teams that were registered, 60 made it to the Regional Competition and attempted the three difficult phases of the event. The Westlake Middle School team, T.E.D., dominated the competition by placing 1st in finesse, 2nd in poster, and 3rd in obstacle to achieve the overall 1st place trophy. Team T.E.D. looks forward to competing on the national level on May 29th in Massachusetts.