SDPC Students Shine at Robotics Tournament

A team of students from Daniel, Easley, Liberty and Pickens High Schools took home multiple honors at the Upstate VEX Robotics Tournament on November 17.

Team 7447 and their robot, “Walie,” earned the Design Award and were named Robotic Skills Champions and Tournament Champions.

“It’s a big accomplishment for their first time in a VEX tournament,” said team mentor Iain Stewart, a teacher at the Pickens County Career and Technology Center. “I think they're going to do quite well at state, and I'd like to see each of our subteams win a trophy.”

Team members were Triston Capps (LHS), Kevin Church (PHS), Brandon Clark (EHS), Arya Ecklund (EHS), Keigan Ecklund (EHS), Matthew Hayes (EHS, Team Captain), Matthew Lewis (DHS), Tamara Shaver (DHS), and Juston Talley (PHS).

The competition was divided into two parts: an automated segment, in which the robot has to perform a pre-programmed task, and a second segment in which the students guide the robot by remote control.

Stewart said his students excelled in the programming segment of the competition.

VEX is a company that supplies robotics components and curriculum for use in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.

The state-wide competition is on February 23 in Irmo. That's where they'll determine the world competition qualifiers,” Stewart said. “VEX is big in other states, and we're just getting started in South Carolina, so we expect it to grow.”