SkillsUSA National Champions!

Our hard work and dedication in the SkillsUSA Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Robotics competition have paid off! We are incredibly proud to announce that two of our team members, Mahlon and Varuna, have won the Silver Medal at SkillsUSA Nationals in Atlanta!

From June 23rd - 28th, Mahlon and Varuna and advisors Nathan and Patrick traveled to Atlanta for the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) where the boys competed with 43 teams from across the nation in Middle School, High School, & Postsecondary. This involved 3 days of competition where they completed 5 skill challenges testing the robot's arm, camera, and chassis as well as the boys' ability to communicate where Varuna, as spotter, directed Mahlon, the driver, to drive the robot through an obstacle course without being able to see it or refer to the cameras. They also submitted an engineering portfolio and gave a technical presentation in front of judges.

After near-flawless skill challenge runs, they tackled the main USAR field competition on the third day when disaster struck. After cruising through a good part of the field the robot became stuck in an HVAC duct and then blew a fuse. The boys had the judges retrieve the robot and then jumped into action with quick thinking. Without being able to see or touch the robot, Mahlon was able to rapidly deduce what happened and tell Varuna to get a new battery. With the clock still counting down on their 6-minute run, Varuna sprinted the distance to his pit table and back, replaced the battery, and restarted the robot. By the time the robot finished starting back up, only a minute and a half remained to retrieve two ordnances. While previously Mahlon was driving slowly and carefully, now the robot sped into action as Mahlon controlled it to rapidly retrieve one ordnance from a mailbox and then speed toward the second ordnance, traversing a teeter-totter, a spiral ramp, and reentering the HVAC duct when their time expired. Unfortunately they were not able to get full points for the run, but many other competitors and advisors admired how well the boys had performed under pressure and how their quick thinking was able to save the run from catastrophe.

Not knowing how their standings ranked, we waited with anticipation through the closing awards ceremony until their competition was called. It was announced that they were to report to the stage to receive a medal. When their moment of glory came, they received the Silver Medal, beating 9 other middle school teams of the nation's best young roboticists.