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Students create robots

Credit: Photo contributed

David Baskin and Bradley Noblitt take a hands-on approach to their project during the NC State Robotics tourxml_nament in Greensboro.

By Staff reports
Published: January 21, 2009

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GREEMSBORO --

Eight teams from Burke County competed in the NC State Robotics tournament recently in Greensboro.
There were 41 teams from North Carolina competing in the tournament. Burke County teams competing included two teams from Hildebran Elementary School, two teams from Rutherford College Elementary School, two teams from Oak Hill Elementary School, one team from Glen Alpine Elementary School and one team from Forest Hill Elementary School.
The North Carolina State Tournament gives out 14 team awards each year. At the tournament, Burke County teams won two of the 14 awards and the two teams that won came from the same school, Hildebran Elementary.
The teams had to design, build and program their team robot. The theme for this year's tournament was Climate Connections. On the competition mat were aspects of climate, such as flooding, drought, etc.
Each team had to decide which tasks they wanted their robot to accomplish, with points being awarded for successful completion of the tasks. In addition, each team had to do a research topic on a climate condition.
Both teams from Hildebran chose drought. At the competition, each team had to present their research, the effects of drought, creative solutions and the ways they made the public aware of these solutions. This was done before a panel of judges.
Then there were two other interviews. One consisted of the team presenting their robot and explaining why they chose their design, how and why they used their various attachments, and why they chose the tasks they attempted.
In the last interview, the team was presented with a problem with specific variables. They were then given three minutes to solve the problem and complete the task.
The Brain Scramblers from Hildebran Elementary won the award for Best Teamwork and the Super Nerds from Hildebran Elementary won the award for Most Creative Project Presentation.
Michael Alexander was the faculty sponsor for both of the teams from Hildebran Elementary.