Photo courtesy Kim Zawacki
Dawson Pent, left, and Jacob Zawacki compete with their robot “Yokai” at a robotics competition in Tennessee.
After the COVID-19 pandemic affected Jacob Zawacki and Dawson Pent’s ability to compete with the Central Education Center’s VEX Robotics team, they decided to create their own team.
Zawacki, a senior at Northgate High School, and Pent, a junior at East Coweta High School, have been a part of the CEC’s robotics team for several years. Zawacki and Pent have been friends since kindergarten.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team hasn’t been able to meet or compete this fall. However, Zawacki said the coaches at the CEC gave them a strong basis in robotics. He said in February, he decided to get a kit of parts, experiment with it and work on some prototypes for fun.
Zawacki said during the summer, he and Pent started building more and created a team, so they were prepared if the CEC team couldn’t compete this fall.
This fall, they’ve been able to compete as an independent team with their robot “Yokai.” Zawacki said their coaches at the CEC don’t know when they’ll be able to start back up.
They competed in their first competition at the Brentwood Academy in Tennessee over Halloween weekend. Zawacki said they won the sportsmanship award, which was voted on by the volunteers and other teams.
Zawacki said the game objective for the competitions this season is to put balls in goals around a field, kind of like a big game of tic-tac-toe. He said teams of two competed against other teams of two in an elimination bracket competition.
Pent said they’re pretty happy with their robot and will only make a few changes before their next competition. He said previous year’s competitions have been more about how good the robot is, while this year is more focused on strategy.
Pent said he’s enjoyed the freedom he and Zawacki have had to work on the robot whenever they want. They will be competing in two more competitions in Georgia soon.
You can follow their team’s progress through their Instagram account @vex_95e_94999e .
"local" - Google News
November 07, 2020 at 05:00AM
https://ift.tt/3eASjMH
Local students start independent robotics team - Newnan Times-Herald
"local" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WoMCc3
https://ift.tt/2KVQLik
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Local students start independent robotics team - Newnan Times-Herald"
Post a Comment