Haile Middle students build award-winning robots

MANATEE COUNTY — One of the smartest robots in the state lives right here in the East County.

And even more impressive — its creators are Haile Middle School students.

Robot creator Parker Whitlock — along with C.J. Cooper, Tyler Whitlock and Taylor Lewis — took home top honors at the 2011 VEX Robotics All-Star Challenge Nov. 10-12, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. The Whitlock brothers, who competed alongside a team from Puerto Rico, won the two-day event.

And although Cooper and Lewis’ robot did not advance in the competition, it earned the Judges Design Award for Most Innovative Robot.

“I was very proud of them,” said engineering teacher Justin Erickson, adviser for Haile’s Technology Student Association program. “They’re not given any specific instructions (on how to build or program the robot. To see them apply problem-solving skills and engineering and design to build a robot is amazing.”

Students competing in the All-Star Challenge event had to build a robot that could pick up specified objects and place them in a tube-shaped container. Robots had to run automatically for 20 seconds before their owners could begin controlling their behavior and working to collect as many objects as possible in the designated time.

Two-man teams were partnered with other teams to form and compete as alliances. Groups who earned the highest number of total points advanced, while lower-scoring teams were eliminated.

“It was really nerve-wracking,” Cooper said of the competition. “It’s a bunch of other really good teams.”

Cooper must win a VEX competition, or meet other qualifications, to meet his goal and compete with Whitlock in the championships in California next year. Already, he has new design ideas for his next creation.

“I’m already working on a new robot,” Cooper said. “My next competition is in Miami in December.”

Parker prepared for the competition in just two weeks, taking an old robot base he had previously created and modifying it. He chose to use an arm with a horseshoe-shaped hand to pick up objects.

The Whitlock brother team now will advance to the 2012 VEX Robotics Middle School Championships in April 2012, in Anaheim, Calif.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].