Daily Sitka Sentinel

Wired Wolves Power to Second in Robotics

By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka High School’s “Wired Wolves” robotics team powered their way to a top showing at the Southeast Regional Qualifier in Juneau, Dec. 14-15.
     “It was my first time competing in this robotics competition and I didn’t know what to expect,” Kyleigh McArthur said. “I was very nervous but when we got there it was so much fun.”
    McArthur, a senior, is a programmer and drafting technician for the Wired Wolves. Senior Bella Laybourn is the team’s lead programmer, junior Alex Bayne is the team’s engineer, and senior Jessica Davis is the photographer and documentarian. Laybourn and Davis couldn’t make the trip.

Sitka senior Kyleigh McArthur and junior Alex Bayne, part of team “Wired Wolves,” placed second at December’s robotics Southeast Regional Qualifier in Juneau. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)

The competition, which drew 15 teams, was a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge. In an FTC, teams design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. They build a robot to complete a task that changes each year. They can use a variety of materials but most teams build with aluminum parts supplied by robotics companies.
    The Sitka High team programed their robot to use Java to install apps on two Android phones. One Android phone is held by the team and the other is on the robot, controlling what the motors, servos, and sensor do.
    The competition includes a game, interviews by judges, and judge evaluation of the computer code, the robot design, the engineering notebook, and how the members work as a team.
    “It was just the two of us there as well as the coach, my dad, and it was a great group to be with,” McArthur said. “I was able to work on the programming when it needed it and Alex could fix any of the design flaws.”
    During the game, the Wired Wolves team went through the qualifying rounds undefeated. They won their first match 2-0 to go into the championship match. They lost that match 1-2 and finished second in the game. The Wired Wolves also won second place overall, the Inspire 2 award, which incorporates all aspects of the competition. In addition, they won the Rockwell Collins Innovate engineering award for their robot design.
    Next up for the Wired Wolves is state competition at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on Feb. 1-2.
    “I wasn’t expecting us to make it to the final matches let alone win most of the qualifying rounds,” McArthur said. “We won a few awards both for the design of the robot as well as the coding for it and ended up playing second and qualifying for state. It was super exciting hearing that we qualified for state when I went into the competition on not expecting to make it to the final round.”
    Most teams in Alaska meet as part of a high school class or an afterschool club, anywhere from two times a week to every day. Official qualifying tournaments in Alaska are held in December through February, with state championships following. Teams selected in the state championships move on to the Western Region where they can qualify for the FIRST World Championship held each April.
    “I am really happy with how the team performed,” coach Scott McArthur said. “Going into the competition, being down two members, I was a little nervous since there is a lot of troubleshooting that has to take place on the fly. Alex and Kyleigh stayed calm, worked hard, and came out as one of the top teams in the region. I’m excited to see what they can do at the state level.”
    The FIRST’s stated mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
    “FIRST is committed to fostering, cultivating and preserving a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and embraces and encourages differences in race, ethnicity, national origin,  sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, income or any other characteristics that make students unique,” the organization states.
    Kyleigh McArthur said the competition has opened her eyes to career possibilities.
    “I’ve thought about engineering but I’m also very interested in fisheries and ocean sciences and I’m planning on pursuing this career option when I go to college up at UAF,” she said.