Eleven 4-H teams from DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties took home awards from the eighth annual Illinois 4-H Robotics Competition at the University of Illinois.
Three local 4-H teams earned top honors at their level of competition.
More than 60 teams of middle-school students from across the state participated in this year’s state 4-H DogBot Challenge, which combined robotics design and programming with a canine theme.
“The 2016 DogBot challenge required each 4-H team to design a robot and program it to perform agility and obedience tasks similar to that of a trained dog,” said Donna Nuger, 4-H Youth Development Educator with University of Illinois Extension, in a press release. “Robots completed various obstacles, barked and did tricks. Each successfully completed task earned points in the table event portion of the showcase.”
Throughout the day, 4-H teams and their Lego Mindstorm robots were evaluated in creativity, table performance, engineering and programming areas.
At Level 2, “Trinity Trailblazers” of DuPage County earned top honors, claiming both the championship title and best table performance. Members included Elizabeth Berberich, Moriah Berberich, Jacob Reitzel and Max Reitzel of Villa Park; John Campbell of Naperville; Justin Gergen of Lombard; Aidan Groppe and Joseph Kaufman of Westchester; Paul Kalapala of Elmhurst; and David Zimmerman of Northlake. The group is coached by Laura Bennett and John Groppe.
In the Level 1 competition, “Coded Canine” of Herrick Middle School in Downers Grove was named champion and also earned the top table performance award. 4-H team members include: Allie Busch, Shea Casey, Grace Chalberg, Joey Duncan, Henry Locker, Aisling Kerr, Saoirse Kerr, Paige Sandler, Henry Locker and Joey Duncan. The group is coached by Jill Henry and Natalie Henry Pasano.
Kendall County 4-H team “#Awesome” came out as the top dog in the Rookie Category, winning both the champion title and top table performance. The team includes William Davis and Josh Greven of Newark; Adam, Audrey and Elijah Hartford of Yorkville; and Kole Hultgren of Plano, and is coached by Anna Hartford.
