Members of Priceville Middle School’s robotics team, from left, are: (front row) Steven Wilson, Garrett Morgan, Joseph Franks, Brett Armstrong, Kory Renfroe, Maegan Thurston and Zoe West; (back row) Sydney Fox, Bryant Norris, Garrett Dellinger, Zack West, sponsor Stacey Smith, Will Dugger, Emma Brown, Noah Wilson and Trent Angel. | Clif Knight

Mock robotic exposition reveals talents of Morgan County students

Robotic team members from six of Morgan County’s eight middle schools demonstrated their creative talents as participants at a mock (trial run) exposition conducted at Sparkman Civic Center in Hartselle on April 3.

Twenty teams, representing schools in Falkville, Priceville, Danville, Cotaco, Union Hill and West Morgan, used the opportunity to trouble shoot their handmade NXT robots and get them fine-tuned for a statewide competition.

Lockheed-Martin Corp. engineers will judge the robots as they perform prescribed maneuvers on a regulation track at their Huntsville offices on May 4, Awards will be presented to the winners.

Teams were organized at the middle schools last January. Each received a robotic kit complete with instructions and construction materials. However, the process of coming up with a finished robot was not a cut and dried one. Team members were urged to get out of the box and seek pertinent information about robot design and construction from the Internet as well as from other sources.

In the upcoming competition, team members will be required to put their robots through a grueling pace of maneuvers, including starts, stops, turns and reverses, while under time constraints.