Sharon Tiger Techs Robotics Team wins awards at FIRST World Championship | News

The Sharon Tiger Techs Robotics Teams came home with two awards after competition at the FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas.

The team competed in the FIRST Lego League Division against 160 other teams from around the world, according to a press release.

While at the competition, the team received the Innovation Project Finalist Award. The Innovation Project Award recognizes a team that uses diverse resources for their project to gain a comprehensive understanding of their problem; has a creative, well-researched solution; and effectively communicates their findings to judges and the community.

This award recognized the Sharon team for its project, Adapt-A-Reel. Adapt-A-Reel is an adaptive fishing device the team created for people affected by upper limb amputations or limited fine-motor skills.

The teams improved their prototype over the past eight months and met with several experts including a physical and recreational therapist, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, staff at Whole Life Services of Hermitage, and then tested their product several times with clients at Whole Life Services.

The team secured a provisional patent for its device with the help of Robert Sovesky of K and L Gates, Pittsburgh.

In addition to their innovation project, the teams competed with their robot on a robot table game and competed in an alliance robot competition.

The team designed, built, and programmed a Lego EV3 Robot to complete tasks autonomously on a themed playing field. The team competed in three matches that were each 2.5 minutes long.

Tiger Techs’ head coach Dave Tomko received the Coach of the Year Award.

This award is given to coaches and mentors that inspire their teams to do their best, both as individuals and together. This award goes to the coach or mentor whose leadership and guidance best exemplifies the FIRST Core Values.

The robotics teams are part of the FIRST Lego League organization. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” The Sharon Tiger Techs includes students from fourth to eighth grades in the Sharon City School District.

They are under the leadership of Tomko and Kelly Roys. The team is funded by sponsors and the school district.

For more information, visit www.tigertechsrobotics.com.