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Middle and high school robotics teams from across Oregon compete on Saturday, March 11, 2017, at Chemeketa Community College. Teams competed to qualify for the VEX Robotics World Championship. (Photo: DANIELLE PETERSON / Statesman Journal)Buy Photo

More than 750middle and high school students crammed into the Chemeketa Community College gymto compete in the Oregon VEX Robotics Competition Saturday.

Ninety-eight teams from 62 schools in the state competed in the robotics competition that determined which teams would advance to the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.

"The whole thing weve been building up to today actually, but it took about a couple weeks to get everything fine tuned - especially with its hands," said Paul Smith, 15, of West Salem High School.

Smith and his team of four other members spent the last five months designing, building and programming their robot for the VEX competition.

Entire class periods, lunch breaks and after school hours were spent making adjustments to the robot for the competition's drivers skills and programming skills challenges.

The competition, which is separated into three divisions - platinum, gold and bronze - asked teams to build and program their robots to compete against other teams on competitive fields. The goal is to program the robot to pick up and throw bags and plastic objects reminiscent of jax over a wall to the competitor's field.

For the first 15 second portion of the competition, the robot acts autonomously to pick up and throw the objects. After that short portion, a team memberpicks up a controller and then directs the robot to move.

"There is an excitement and ease to start with robotics," said Joe Shepard, the coordinator of the state championships. "These kids are doing things they've never done before and we've seen in the last 12 to 15 years that the world really needs more engineers."

After winning best of three in the semi-finals, the West Salem team returned the "pit," an area where teams replace batteries, nurse gear settings, make repairs and modify any mechanical bugs before moving onto the next round.

While Smith adjusts a gear on the robot's arms, his teammateTyler Keopadapsy shared his team's strategy during field competitions.

"Our main driver is Paul, so werewatching him drive and telling him what we should do to win," Keopadapsy said. "If hes feeling too cocky or confident, we'll tell him to slow down, ease it up and change up the strategy."

The strategy paid off, as the West Salem Team was crowned the platinum division champion and the judge's award. The team's tournament win now makes the team eligible to attend the world championship in Kentucky.

"Weve had consistent success and thats helped out with our overall performance," saidGreyson Walker,of West Salem High School.

Walker, 17, already had 6 years of programming experience under his belt before participating in the competition. He said he spent more than 70 hours of his own time programming the robot's autonomous and skills features.

Walker points to the back of teammates green shirt, where five stars embellishing his high school's name represent the five years Salem High School has attended the world championship.

"We have a very significant history with robotics," Walker.

The team can expect to add one more starto their team shirt next year.

View all of the state's winners here.

Read more:

South Salem girls basketball's reign comes to a sudden halt

History making double overtime win earns West Salem first state trophy

Virtual Schools Day at the Oregon State Capitol

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Originally posted here:

West Salem High wins big at robotics competition - Statesman Journal