ALBUQUERQUE, NM – San Luis Valley 4-H members Taylor Adams and Julie Wisener battled 41 other teams to take home first place in the Middle School Joust event at the RoboRAVE International robotics competition. The event was held May 10 to 12 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four other 4-H youth robotics teams from the Valley also participated in the contest, which drew more than 1500 competitors from 20 countries.

Adams, 8, of Monte Vista, and Wisener, 10, of Alamosa, worked with their coach Seth Adams to build a jousting robot for the competition. The robot had to be able to carry a water bottle knight and follow a line. During the event, the team faced off in joust matches where they tried to knock their opponent’s knight off.  The team placed in the top eight in preliminary matches, which qualified them for the event tournament. In the tournament, they vanquished three opponents from the United States and Mexico to take first place.

Four other SLV youth robotics teams competed in different contests at the event. In the a-MAZE-ing challenge Brice Wisener and Todd Adams placed tenth overall. The challenge required participants to use precision programming to navigate an elevated maze course. Rachel Neuerburg, Karen Holguin-Guzman, Damion Garcia, and Ivhan Snyder also competed in this event.

Cali and Carson Wolfe entered the SumoBot challenge. In this event their robot was pitted against others to see who could push their opponent’s out of the ring first.

Garcia and Snyder also took home second place in the FastBot event. This contest is a drag race, where teams add gearing to their robot in an attempt to get it to cross the finish line first.

This was the 17th annual RoboRAVE International robotics contest, and the fourth time that local teams have participated. The event is a way for SLV 4-H Robotics members to apply the programming, building, teamwork, and troubleshooting skills they’ve built throughout the season. The next competition for local teams will be the San Luis Valley Fair Challenge in August.

For more information on the San Luis Valley 4-H robotics program, or the 4-H youth development program, visit the San Luis Valley website at http://sanluisvalley.colostate.edu, call 719-852-7381 or email [email protected]. 4-H is a cooperative effort between Colorado State University Extension and Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande and Saguache counties. Extension programs are available to all without discrimination.

Captions: Todd Adams of Monte Vista (left) and Brice Wisener of Alamosa (right) work on their a-MAZE-ing program with their coach Mark Wisener./Courtesy photos

Taylor Adams (left) and Julie Wisener (center) watch their robot battle an opponent in a joust match during preliminary rounds at RoboRAVE.