The robotics group from Kamiakin Middle School in Kirkland competed during the regional qualifying round of the robotics competition at Ballard High School on Dec. 7. It was the first year the teams –  the Tadnas Moose and Brainstormers – have been placed in the competition. The Tadnas Moose robots scored 123 points ranking them 21st overall, while the Brainstormers scored 106 points overall to finish 27th. The competition featured 46 teams.

“It has been an exciting year for Kamiakin Robotics Group,” said program administrator Holly Brewer.

The theme for this year’s competition was natural disasters. The teams’ respective approaches focused on protection from volcanic flows, as well as collecting supplies to rebuild after a disaster.

The Lake Washington School District is moving towards having more technology training in schools including robotics.

“Robotics is very much in demand as an elective in schools as well as an after school or summer program,” said Brewer. “It acts as a gateway to programming and engineering, which are in high demand both locally and globally. In terms of programming, it visually demonstrates to students how their program works and provides them with a powerful first experience of communicating with a computer. The engineering is in figuring out which part works best for which challenge.”

Brainstormers team members include Tyler Brewer, Jino Chai, Gabriel Gaertner, Skylee Lorenz and Nithish Nurasimman, while Tadnas Moose is Annie Balback, Tom Balback, Zacchariah Herrera, Drew Johnson, Aaron Jones and Aidan Thornsberry.

The teams have had help from the community. Nine laptops donated by LZL Construction, F5 Networks, the Short family and the Chang family. The team have also acquired seven robots using membership fees and were awarded $700 in scholarships from the PTSA and KIN.