The Bremerton High School Robotics Team “BremerTron” had a great season, which culminated in the team winning second place at the Pacific Northwest Auburn District First Robotics Competition at Auburn High School in March. 

Every year the robotics competition game is different and teams are tasked with building an "industrial sized" robot to compete. These robots are typically about 3'x3'x4' and they weigh 150+ pounds when complete. This year’s game was “Reefscape. Teams were tasked with imagining their robots as underwater vehicles tasked with placing “coral” pieces onto a reef structure in order to rehabilitate it. Simultaneously teams had to remove harmful “algae” from the reef structure. At the end of the game robots had to climb on to diving cages suspended by chains and lift themselves off of the floor to “return to the surface.” The game is played with our robot being part of a 3-robot alliance which changes every match as teams compete against another 3-robot alliance trying to accomplish the same goal.

BremerTron had difficulties during the qualification portion of the tournament and started the event ranked relatively low. However, the students worked to resolve the problems throughout the weekend and ultimately they were recognized as having a durable, robust design and construction that was fit for a defensive strategy. During the elimination portion of the tournament this strength was recognized and the #2 team at the event selected BremerTron to fulfill a defensive role as part of a 3-robot alliance.

“The team did a great job at this tournament and the previous tournament of working through problems and getting them solved,” said Blake Greisinger, BremerTron’s adviser. “It’s easy to become frustrated and mad when the robot you’ve been working on for 7 weeks isn’t functioning properly but the team did an amazing job of focusing their effort on working the problem instead of getting upset at the problem. The team also did a fantastic job of networking with the other teams so they knew our strengths and weaknesses to see how we could fit in to make a match work as best as possible.”

Students in the First Robotics Club (BremerTron) can directly apply skills and knowledge learned in CTE classes to a team-oriented, large scale project. “While it’s easy to see how a 3D mechanical design skill or a metal machining skill is directly applicable to the team there are other CTE skills such as graphic design, marketing, photography, public and improvisational speaking and communication which are just as important to make the team a well organized and functional whole at the event, according to Mr. Greisinger.