RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Waiakea High School's Jordan Olive worked the controls of his team's robot yesterday in the semifinals of the FIRST in Hawaii Regional Robotics Competition at Stan Sheriff Center.

Robot action, calculated success

A Radford High team is part of an alliance that wins a regional robotics competition

A rookie team from Hawaii was one of the top three winners yesterday in the first regional robotics competition in Hawaii, despite a dead battery that stopped their "bot" on the tracks.

Radford High School's Rambotx team will be going to the FIRST Robotics national championships in Atlanta on April 17.

The two-day competition ended yesterday at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus with a face-off between two three-team alliances.

The losing alliance was an all-Hawaii group comprising Sacred Hearts Academy, McKinley High School and Waialua High School.

But those high schools had qualified at other regional competitions so they are going to the national championships as well.

"It's so awesome," said Lloyd Pasion, 17, a Radford senior and Rambotx team captain. "Our battery kind of stalled on us, but whatever, we'll take it."

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM J.D. Stewart-Soriano and other teammates from Radford High School cheered on his team's robot yesterday during semifinals of the FIRST Hawaii Regional Robotics Competition at Stan Sheriff Center. Radford High School's team, which was on the winning three-team alliance, is one of the Hawaii teams going to the FIRST Robotics national championships in Atlanta on April 17.

"It just stood there. It took up mass," Pasion said.

Radford was one of 25 teams from Hawaii; 21 had entered the competition for the first time. Twelve mainland teams also participated.

Two mainland teams selected Radford to form the winning alliance.

John Paik, captain for McKinley High School's robotics team, said mechanical problems for McKinley's robot made for a less than stellar performance -- it was stuck in neutral in the finals.

Paik, who has been on the school's team for three of the team's eight years, said he plans to go to the University of Hawaii to study electrical engineering and return to help McKinley's robotics program.

The game is played by driving robots around an oval track during a 2-minute, 15-second match. Teams score points by lapping the track, tossing a ball over an overpass or placing their ball on the overpass.

Participants said the competition is not just about designing and building a robot, but also working together as a team.

"It's not about the robot, it's about the people," Paik said.