Nov 14, 2016
Woodlawn High School’s Robotics Team, Panthrobotics, hosted it’s fourth annual FIRST Lego League Qualifier in the high school gym on Saturday, November 12, 2016. Students from thirteen elementary and middle schools competed for the chance to attend the State Championship in New Orleans on December 10th. Panthrobotics members volunteered as judges, referees, game-announcers, and in a variety of other positions to help run this great event.
Students who participated were judged on their ability to design and program a Lego Robot, engage in a research project, and demonstrate the Core Values of the FIRST Lego League Program. They then competed with their robot against the other teams in a best of three tournament. In the end, The Exploding Bluejays from Oak Grove Primary School won both the Robot Performance award as well as the coveted Champions Award for their commitment to excellence in all areas of the challenge.
Congratulations to all teams that participated and good luck at the State Championship!
Sep 9, 2016
Woodlawn’s Robotics Team, Panthrobotics, held its fourth annual Dow Red Stick Rumble on August 27th, 2016. Twenty one teams from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi competed in this year’s FIRST® Robotics Game, Stronghold, in the Woodlawn High Gym. Approximately fifteen hundred people attended this free event and witnessed 120 pound robots vying to capture their opponent’s tower.
After forty intense matches, the second seed alliance; Team 4587, Jersey Voltage from Houston Texas, Team 4107, Team Storm from Gulfport Mississippi, and Team 4978, Tiger Robotics from Baton Rouge, Louisiana advanced through the elimination bracket to clench the victory as champions of the Rumble.
Teams also brought in supplies to be donated to people affected by the 2016 Flood. Over 100 book-sacks filled with school supplies, six 40 gallon totes of toiletries, food-stuffs, toys, and other items were donated to Woodlawn to distribute to those who were in need.
Many thanks go to the Partner Sponsor of the event, Dow Chemical, who is also a major sponsor of the team. Thanks also goes to Indiana’s AndyMark for providing food for all of the volunteers and teams on Friday evening.
Aug 23, 2016
Robotics teams from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas will be arriving at Woodlawn High School to bring relief supplies and support for their competitors at the fourth annual Dow Red Stick Rumble, an off-season FIRST® (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition and Festival sponsored by Dow Chemical and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.
On August 27th, the gym of Woodlawn High School will be transformed into a medieval playing field where teams will compete with their 120lb robots to scale defenses and capture their opponent’s castle. Each high school team had only 6 weeks to work with mentors and coaches from their community to design and build their robot. The public is invited to attend, free of charge, to witness the spectacle of giant robots battling it out for their chance to win the Red Stick Rumble trophy and to tour the pits and see the magic of robot construction and repair.
Teams will also be bringing backpacks filled with school supplies, toiletries, and toys for those affected by the 2016 flood. Many teams are attending despite their members losing homes and properties in the rising waters. Some teams, like TorBotics from Hammond Magnet High School are competing even though their school was flooded.
“It’s not just about robots,” said Carolyn Arthurs, FIRST® Regional Director of Louisiana and Mississippi, “The fact that these students are coming together to support each other, when many of them are in desperate need themselves, embodies the true spirit of FIRST.”
Doors open to the public at 8AM with competition lasting until 4PM. Food will be provided by Newks and the Woodlawn High Snack Bar. Louisiana teams from Baton Rouge, Boutte, Duson, Hammond, Lafayette, New Orleans, Port Allen, and Slidell as well as teams from Texas and Mississippi will be in attendance.
As a Strategic Sponsor of FIRST® Robotics and the Title Sponsor of the Dow Red Stick Rumble, Dow Chemical is working through their Dow STEMtheGap™ initiative to improve the infrastructure of STEM throughout the state and nation.
FIRST® Robotics is an international youth organization that operates the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST LEGO
League, FIRST LEGO League Jr., and FIRST Tech Challenge competitions. Founded by Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers, graduate of Louisiana Polytechnic Institute and Louisiana native, in 1989, its expressed goal is to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields.
Jul 6, 2016
By Sierra Johnson
Red Stick Rumble is an off season robotics event that gives schools from all over another chance to compete with last season’s robots; it also provides a way to introduce rookie members into the organization. This is the third year we have held Red Stick Rumble at Woodlawn; it shows what robotics is about, as opposed to just explaining. Red Stick Rumble is the biggest school event as far as the number of people it takes to run. Students are assigned different jobs, such as field managers (leaders), directing crowds, and touring important guests (other members), which helps develop working and management skills.
There are three levels for schools to compete in: FRC (high school), FTC (some high, mostly middle), and FLL (elementary). FTC has smaller, kid friendly challenges and takes place on a 10 x 10 table. FLL shows elementary students how to build robots and helps them get ready for the new season. FRC takes place on a basketball sized arena, where high schools compete against each other at the same time, on the same field. They are put into groups of three, which are randomly selected, and work together for the fastest time, using preprogramed robots. This is one of the slower games, but what makes it interesting is that in one match a student could be working with another team, then competing against them in the next.
This year’s Red Stick Rumble was held September 12th 2015. The drivers representing Panthrobotics were: Seryna White, Chrishan Legeune, Alisa Wess, and Brennan Burleish. Panthrobotic’s success in the Red Stick Rumble was not winning, but instead managing to raise approximately $200 for a cure for Leukemia. They also had 25 people to donate blood, almost 2 times more than expected! The choir sang the national anthem at the beginning of Red Stick Rumble, and the JROTC managed to raise over $1000 for their program through concessions. Danielle Massey was the announcer for FRC, which had 15 groups participate, while FTC had 18 groups participate, and FLL had over 190 participates. That was the largest in the state! Mr. Eiland, the Panthrobotics sponsor, counts this as the most successful Red Stick Rumble to date, and the team hopes to have many more in the future.
