The Hellstern Middle School Herobotics robotics teams represented the Heroes well at the Arkansas Championship Tournament for the Arkansas region of the FIRST LEGO League.
The students pitted their robotics skills against about 30 other teams from around the state at the competition.
The Red Team won the Champions Award, and the Gold Team earned the Core Values Award, said Michael Tapee, Hellstern math and Herobotics teacher.
“That was a pretty cool moment of competing against really great teams from across the state,” Tapee said of how the Hellstern teams fared in the competition.
The Gold Team was also nominated for the Global Innovation Award, which is presented to teams who have the overall best project in the competition.
Teams created projects around the theme “Cargo Connect” for the event.
The Red Team’s project was the Trailer Trapper, which addressed the problem of cargo theft.
The project consisted of a pipe held in the ground by cement that was secured between truck tires. The pipe could only be unlocked with a specialized handle that acts as a key to prevent a trailer from being moved without the owner’s knowledge.
The Gold Team’s project was a Sensored Powered Organ Transportation device designed to protect kidneys being transported in support of organ donations. The project’s sensors are designed to monitor the temperature and general state of kidneys and to communicate that information to medical personnel to maintain the organ’s viability for transplant.
The Red Team will advance to compete in the FIRST LEGO League World Festival April 20-23 in Houston, while the Gold Team will compete in the FIRST LEGO League Razorback Open Invitational May 19-22 in Fayetteville.
Both teams will compete against international competitors at the events.
“It’s a huge honor,” Tapee said. “We are crazy pumped.”
Tapee said the students consulted with real-world industry stakeholders to discuss the relevance and development of their projects.
The Red Team is comprised of Noah Bradley, Dez Evans, Matthew Hernandez, Cooper Horn, Finn McCarty, Jonah Parker, Parker Porbeck, Chev Whelpley and Phil Wilkinson.
The Gold Team includes Claire Aguayo, Breelyn Drummonds, Gwen Ehrhardt, Miya Jech, Savanna Mounce, Jazmine Rivera, Sandy Vicente and Olivia Wright.
