Lyons Township High Robotics Teams Win Awards

LA GRANGE, IL — Lyons Township High School robotics students grabbed top awards at the recent Rich East High School Vex Tournament, the school reported. The school was among 38 competitors. Lyons had a total of five teams vying for a top finish. Lyons' Team 23880B won the Design Award and qualified for the Illinois State Championship in March. Team 23880D won the Innovate Award. All five teams will compete again in December at Huntley High School.

Vex competitions consist of students driving robots they designed, built, and programmed using an integrated system of motors, wheels, metal and sensors, according to a school news release. The competition is played by placing caps on poles, turning flags, and parking robots on platforms.

Teams consist of three to six students, and each student has a different role. The two main roles are builder and coder, the school said. The builders construct the actual robot and troubleshoot any mechanical problems that might happen. The coders create custom actions for the robot to do in order to score points with speed and accuracy.

The state qualifying team in the design category are juniors Ian Doherty, Casimir Kash, Eli Newlin, Ethan Ozanich, Seth Traman and Austin Turcotte.

The first-place team in the Innovate category were senior Ryan Middendorf; juniors Danny Atkinson, Jimmy Atkinson, Chris Borawski and Alex Kuehnle; and sophomores Evan Sherman and Alex Kuehnle.