Robotics Club Heads To World Championship

Despite the theft of their robot at the end of March, Tahoma Robotics Club (team “Bear Metal”) had a strong season, taking numerous awards and rising to eighth in district rankings. Over the course of district competition, the team competed in three qualification tournaments and in Portland at the district championship.

Now the team heads to the World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

At the first tournament at Auburn Mountainview High school in early March, the team performed well, but lost in the final rounds. Nevertheless, the team won the Industrial Design Award for outstanding robot design, and team member Bradley Davis was a semifinalist for the prestigious Dean’s List Award.

Through the month of March, the team practiced hard and improved their performance. At the end of the month, in their second tournament at Philomath, Oregon, they barreled through to the finals, this time taking home the trophy. Triumph was dampened when the team’s trailer, with robot and tools was stolen. However, thanks to extensive coverage in newspapers and on television, the stolen robot was returned anonymously a few days later, repairs were made, and the robot soon was back in action.

The following week, at Auburn High School the team was stopped in the semifinals, but were recognized with the Engineering Inspiration Award, celebrating outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community. Team mentor Todd Hammerstrom was nominated for the Woodie Flowers award.

In mid April, at the district championship in Portland, the team once again advanced to the semifinal rounds, but did not reach the finals. Still, their season performance qualified the team for the World Championship in

St. Louis on April 27-30.

Six hundred teams from around the world will compete there, with matches running simultaneously on eight fields over the four days of the championship.

This year marks the club’s tenth anniversary. It will be their eighth trip to the World Championship.