On Friday, February 11, 2022, Penn-Trafford High School competed in the North Allegheny 5th Annual Robotics Tournament. Thirty teams competed, including five teams from Penn-Trafford and teams from North Allegheny, Keystone Oaks, Riverview, Sarah Heinz House, East Allegheny, and New Castle.
The object of the competition, named “Tipping Point”, was to build, program, and drive robots on a 12’ x 12’ playing field to collect mobile goals (misshaped rings) and balance them on a large see-saw type goal. Each 2-minute round began with a 15 second autonomous period for which the teams pre-programmed the robot movements; during the remaining 1:45 team members were permitted to drive their robots via remote control.
The Penn-Trafford team of Ean Smith, Alec Gilmore, and Jason Pernick received awards for Tournament Champions, Skills Champions, and the Design Award. This team has won these awards in back-to-back tournaments this season.
Following this tournament, all five of Penn-Trafford's Robotics Teams have secured their spots in the Western Pennsylvania State Tournament which will be held at Clarion University on March 12, 2022.