The Lutz-based Trinity Dragons ended the robotics season on a high note, with another top-10 showing at worlds.
Team 6430 ranked eighth among more than 500 teams, during the 2017 VEX World Competition in Louisville, Kentucky; they finished ninth last year.
They also earned the Teamwork Award in the event’s Research Division, and were recognized as competition finalists.
The world championships, at the Kentucky Exposition Center, drew over 16,000 participants from across 37 nations; it marks the fourth consecutive season Team 6430 has received an invitation.
Throughout the weeklong event, Team 6430 joined forces with clubs from Galveston, Texas; Glen Allen, Virginia; Carrollton, Georgia; and Sichaun, China.
The VEX robotics challenge, titled “Starstruck,” is played on a 12-by-12 square field, in which two alliances consisting of two robotics teams each, square off in matches comprising of a 15-fifteen second autonomous period, followed by 1 minute and 45 seconds of driver-controlled play.
The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by having each robot place “stars” and “cubes” in designated zones, and remotely hang robots onto a hanging pole.
It otherwise was a fruitful 2016-2017 robotics campaign for the local club.
Team 6430 won the Florida State High School VEX Robotics Championship in February, outscoring 56 other high school teams at the Florida State Fairgrounds; the team also went undefeated in each of its regular season tournaments.
And, at one point this season, Team 6430 ranked fourth internationally, of 8,500 teams worldwide, in autonomous programming skills.
Next year’s VEX robotics challenge, titled “In The Zone,” requires robots to essentially stack as many “cones” as possible.
The Trinity Dragons, coached by Ray Carr, was formed about six years ago.
The team is sponsored by Occam Technology Group, Pharmaworks and Broten Garage Doors.
Published June 14, 2017
