On March 4, 2017, Sahuaro’s Robotics team competed at the State competition at Embry Riddle University in Prescott.

Although the team (Marlee Raniere, Camilla Ibarra, Michael Rumsey, Amanda Duncan, Bree Williams, Devin Defoe) did not qualify for Nationals, they still did great, as this was the first year Sahuaro has had a team. Out of everyone competing, Sahuaro placed 42nd. In order to compete at the state level, they have to win at a qualifying tournament. The competition brought out some of the best robotics teams in all of Arizona, making it a pretty big deal.

Overall, the competition was an excellent experience for everyone involved. Mr. Christian, one of the coaches, said that the team improved considerably from their first competition, and they learned a lot from competing throughout the entire season. The team learned about engineering and construction. For example, some key concepts in robot building they learned included: coding robots and computers, how torque works (a force that causes an object to rotate), and how to re-gear motors. Outside of just engineering and math skills, the team learned a lot of important life skills. In fact, they all learned how to work under pressure, as they had to troubleshoot their robot on the spot. The problem that happened with their robot was that one of the motors had actually burned out. This is because the wheels were designed to run at a high speed. This happened before, but they didn’t know what to do. This time around however, they fixed it, after a bit of troubleshooting. This also helped them to learn to work as a team, which is not only just important in competition, but also in life in general. The team looks forward to competing next year, and hope to do even better than they did this year.