Five Alabama Schools Advance to Regional Robotics Competition

Photo 1 from Alabama BEST Competition The Student Activities Center at Auburn University was packed as mascots, pep bands and costumed supporters cheered 18 teams from across the state competing, at the 2006 Alabama BEST robotics competition, to see which could design the best robot to help with one of life's more mundane tasks - doing the laundry. 

"BEST gives students practical experience in practical problem solving," says Bryan Rosenstiel, 9th grade science teacher and team advisor for Hoover High School in Hoover, Ala. "It spurs their creative juices and forces them to think outside of the box.  They also get project experience ranging from fabrication to trial and error to inventory and teamwork."

Photo 4 from Alabama BEST CompetitonBEST is a non-profit volunteer organization whose purpose is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through participation in a robotics competition. Teams are given the task of building a remote-controlled robot, using specified size criteria, to complete a given assignment. This year's game "Laundry Quandry" required robots to take wet clothing off a clothesline and replace it with dry clothing.

"I signed up this year figuring it would be a good way to pass the time and meet new people," says Jordan Hollis, a junior from Stanhope-Elmore High School. "I not only learned a lot about electronics and circuitry but I also learned to work with others.  When you build something complex like a robot you do a lot of planning, then testing, then planning and then more testing. You learn to work with constraints and around obstacles. You also learn that the small stuff matters."

Photo 3 from Alabama BEST CompetitonTeams can also choose to compete for the BEST award, which adds display, notebook, spirit and presentation components to the competition.

Southside Middle School of Tallassee took first place in the robotics competition, with Eastwood Christian School of Montgomery and Lee-Scott Academy of Auburn following close behind. Wetumpka High School placed first in the overall BEST competition, with Eastwood and Lee-Scott again rounding out the top three. Wetumpka High School, Southside, Eastwood, Lee-Scott, and Stanhope-Elmore High School will advance to the 2006 South's BEST Regional Championship to compete against hub winners from across the eastern US. The competition will be held in Auburn's Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on December 8-9.