Oak Ridge Today

Secret City Wildbots to compete at Smoky Mountain Regional this week

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The Secret City Wildbots are primed for competition this weekend in the FIRST Robotics “FIRST Steamworks” challenge at Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville from March 23-25, 2017. (Submitted photo)

The Secret City Wildbots are primed for competition this weekend in the FIRST Robotics “FIRST Steamworks” challenge at Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville from March 23-25, 2017. (Submitted photo)

 

The Secret City Wildbots are primed for competition this weekend in the FIRST Robotics “FIRST Steamworks” challenge.

This year’s event is scheduled from Thursday, March 23, to Saturday, March 25 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. It invites teams and their robots to join an adventure club and prepare their airship for flight. Teams were challenged to build their robot for collecting and placing gears on their airship for their pilots (the team’s human player) to populate gear trains to start their airships rotors, scoring fuel (“wiffleballs”) into a low goal or firing them into a high goal of their boiler in order to build up steam pressure, and lastly, climbing a rope to board their airship so they can help their pilots win the race.

The Secret City Wildbots, along with their alliance, were semi-finalists at the Palmetto Regional in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from March 2-4. [Read more…]

Photos: Secret City Wildbots at Palmetto Regional

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The Secret City Wildbots, an Oak Ridge team, competed in the FIRST Robotics Palmetto Regional in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday, March 4, 2017. (Photo by Angi Agle)

The Secret City Wildbots, an Oak Ridge team, competed in the FIRST Robotics Palmetto Regional in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday, March 4, 2017. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

The Secret City Wildbots, an Oak Ridge team, competed in the FIRST Robotics Palmetto Regional in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, last week.

The Wildbots, Team 4265, lost in the semifinals, but will likely face many of the same teams at Smoky Mountain Regionals from March 22-25, said Angi Agle, an Oak Ridge Board of Education member who was at the Palmetto Regional.

“The Wildbots made some significant improvements and adjustments in the later rounds, resulting in a robot that is capable of competing consistently at a high level,” Agle said.

The three-day competition was from March 2-4. There were practice matches on Thursday, and qualification rounds on Friday and Saturday. Elimination rounds were Saturday afternoon.  [Read more…]

Photos: Secret City Wildbots at FIRST Robotics Palmetto Regional

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The Secret City Wildbots Team 4265 pit crew makes adjustments between qualification rounds at the First Robotics Palmetto Regional in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Friday, March 3, 2017. (Photo by Angi Agle)

The Secret City Wildbots Team 4265 pit crew makes adjustments between qualification rounds at the FIRST Robotics Palmetto Regional in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Friday, March 3, 2017. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

The Secret City Wildbots, an Oak Ridge team, is competing at the FIRST Robotics Palmetto Regional in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this week.

There were practice matches on Thursday, and qualification rounds on Friday and Saturday. Elimination rounds are scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The three-day competition is from March 2-4.

Here are photos from the Palmetto Regional by Angi Agle. [Read more…]

Agle seeks re-election to Board of Education

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Angi Agle

Angi Agle

Angi Agle is running for re-election to the Oak Ridge Board of Education in the November 8 election. Early voting starts Wednesday, October 19.

Now completing her third term, Agle serves as the Board’s representative on the Tennessee Legislative Network, which helps to keep all Board members informed about proposed and new legislation affecting schools from the state level, a press release said. Agle has earned the Level IV Board Member designation from TSBA through continuing education through the Tennessee School Boards Association—in addition to civic and legislative advocacy.

“Oak Ridge Schools are now gaining traction toward some long-time goals, and I believe it is important to see these through,” Agle said in the press release. “The Seven Keys to College and Career Readiness, the five-year plan devised by the community-based 2020 Planning Committee, and the Access Oak Ridge initiative give us concrete goals, direction, and tools to ensure that our students—all of our students—succeed.” [Read more…]

Secret City Wildbots struggle in opening rounds, but rebound in later regional rounds

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The Secret City Wildbots of Oak Ridge High School are pictured above at the 2016 Smoky Mountain Regionals in Knoxville this week. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:45 p.m.

KNOXVILLE—The Secret City Wildbots struggled somewhat in the opening qualifying rounds at Smoky Mountain Regionals on Friday, falling to a rank of 32nd after lunch, but the team rebounded strongly in the last three of the day’s eight rounds, finishing with a ninth-place rank.

At the end of qualifying rounds at noon on Saturday, the top eight teams select an alliance partner, and those eight groups of two select their third partner team. In the event that one of the top eight chooses another from the top eight, the next ranked team moves up to team captain post.

Following Q41, the Wildbots moved up to number 13 by playing on their core strength of crossing defenses and scoring low goals in rapid succession. In Q51, they continued playing to core strengths but added a feat that only a few robots in this competition have mastered: climbing the tower.

In Q59, the final match of the day, the Wildbots again finished strong and in an excellent position to face the final two rounds Saturday: Q-70 at approximately 10:26 a.m., and Q-81 scheduled for 11:57 a.m. (the next to-the-last qualifying round of the tournament). [Read more…]

Photos: Secret City Wildbots at FIRST Robotics Competition in Myrtle Beach

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The Secret City Wildbots are competing in the Palmetto Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this weekend, Feb 26-28, 2016. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

The Secret City Wildbots are competing in the Palmetto Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this weekend. Here are pictures by Angi Agle.

The competition is an intense three-day event showcasing robots developed and operated by dozens of high school teams from all over the world. (See the Palmetto Regional website here for more information.)

You can watch the competition online here: http://www.htcinc.net/portal/streams/robotics/.

The Wildbots competed Friday. They will also compete at 9:31 a.m. and 11:19 a.m. Saturday to qualify for the elimination rounds Saturday afternoon. [Read more…]

Secret City Wildbots competing in FIRST Robotics Competition, watch online

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Secret-City-Wildbots-Logo

The Secret City Wildbots are competing in the Palmetto Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this weekend, and you can watch the competition online.

The competition is an intense three-day event showcasing robots developed and operated by dozens of high school teams from all over the world. (See the Palmetto Regional website here for more information.)

You can watch the competition online here: http://www.htcinc.net/portal/streams/robotics/.

The Wildbots’ first match was at 9:35 a.m. Friday. They will compete again at 10:20 a.m., 1:08 p.m., 2:38 p.m., 3:27 p.m., and 5:11 p.m. Friday. Then, they will compete at 9:31 a.m. and 11:19 a.m. Saturday to qualify for the elimination rounds Saturday afternoon. [Read more…]

Video: Check out these robots stacking totes, garbage cans, ‘noodles’

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This is a video taken by Angi Agle on Saturday, April 25, 2015, at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

This was the first round of the Hopper Division quarterfinals for an alliance that included the Secret City Wildbots, Team 4265 of Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Other members were Team 987, the Highrollers of Las Vegas, Nevada (team captain, #1 ranked in the division), and Team 2826, Wave Robotics of Oshkosh, Wisconsin (ranked #2 in the division). This round began at 9:51 a.m. Central time Saturday.

The first 15 seconds are the autonomous period, where the robot executes a pre-programmed routine with no human control. 2826 Wave achieves points by stacking three yellow totes in the designated area, while 987 Highrollers snag three garbage cans from the center area. While this achieves no autonomous points, the garbage cans stacked on top of gray totes multiplies the point value of the stack, so it is important to get them first—before the other alliance does so. [Read more…]

High achievement: Wildbots alliance finishes second in robotics competition finals

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An alliance that included the Secret City Wildbots of Oak Ridge High School finished second in the final championship round at the FIRST Robotics Competition in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday.

Maddie Buckner, a member of Team 4265 of Oak Ridge High School, is pictured above with Professor Woodie Flowers at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday, April 25, 2015. (Photos by Angi Agle)

 

An alliance that included the Secret City Wildbots of Oak Ridge High School finished second in the final championship round at the FIRST Robotics Competition in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday.

It’s the highest achievement in the five-year history of Team 4265, Oak Ridge Board of Education member Angi Agle said.

The Secret City Wildbots were picked to join a four-team alliance with the first- and second-place ranked teams and made it into the elimination rounds on Saturday. That alliance won the Hopper Subdivision and advanced to the finals, the Einstein round, which was also on Saturday.

The alliance included: [Read more…]

Secret City Wildbots alliance wins division, going to championship matches

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Secret City Wildbots Hopper Division FIRST Robotics Competition

Photos by Angi Agle

 

The alliance that includes the Secret City Wildbots won the Hopper Division at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday, and is headed to the Einstein world championship matches.

The Wildbots, Team 4265 of Oak Ridge High School, were picked to join an alliance with the first- and second-place ranked teams. Their first match was this morning.

Here are photos of the team accepting its award. [Read more…]

Update: Secret City Wildbots alliance ranked No. 1 headed into finals at Robotics Competition

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Secret City Wildbots at First Robotics Competition 2015

The Secret City Wildbots have been competing at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, this week, April 22-25, 2015. (Photo by Angi Agle)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:37 p.m. April 25.

The Secret City Wildbots made it into the elimination rounds today (Saturday, April 25) at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Team 4265 of Oak Ridge High School was picked to join an alliance with the first- and second-place ranked teams. Their first match is this morning.

Updates: The Secret City Wildbots’ alliance won the first quarterfinal round 235-205 and is now ranked number 1. The alliance maintained its number 1 ranking headed to the semifinals and then the semifinals. The alliance won the first round of finals 268-185, Angi Agle reported at 1:07 p.m.

Below are two videos of the Secret City Wildbots competing during qualifying rounds this week. The videos are by Angi Agle. The robotics competition runs from April 22-25.

After all matches, the Secret City Wildbots, an Oak Ridge High School team, were ranked 45 as of Friday evening. [Read more…]

Update: Secret City Wildbots compete in qualifying Friday, could make elimination rounds Saturday

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FIRST Robotics Competition Secret City Wildbots 2015

The Secret City Wildbots are pictured above at the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship on Thursday, April 23, in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photos by Angi Agle) 

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 p.m.

The Secret City Wildbots of Oak Ridge High School are competing this week in the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Here are pictures from the competition on Thursday by Angi Agle. Oak Ridge won its last round and was ranked #37 as of Thursday evening.

Here is a Friday morning update from Agle: [Read more…]