Robot wars: A moving triumph

By Keith Walker

Published: November 22, 2008

A little Lego robot built by students at Mountain View Elementary School took top honors at a recent statewide robotics competition.

"When you win, it's a good feeling for your team,"said 10-year-old Otto Voettiner, who led the Haymarket school's nine-member crew.

Otto said the team's robot performed well in the competition, which included an obstacle course.

"We've been practicing since September," Otto said.

The team of fourth and fifth graders, led by third-grade teacher George Lombardi, programmed the robot made of interchangeable Lego parts to perform various tasks that included lifting and moving objects. They named him Billybot.

Team member Caroline Skaff said she enjoyed the fact that everyone contributed to the robot's design.

"We all did different parts of the robot and we all put it together and helped out in some way," the 10-year-old said.

The team's teacher said he was impressed with how the kids worked together.

"They were able to tell exactly what each part was for and they did such a wonderful job designing it," Lombardi said.

Each of the nine pupils also had to give an oral presentation as part of the competition.

Jen Skaff, Caroline's mother, said she was struck by their performances.

"I was really impressed watching them do their presentations," she said.

"Young kids don't get that opportunity very much and they were composed when they were speaking and it was a really good experience for them."

Paige Payne, 9, said she appreciated the lessons the team members learned during the preparation and competition.

"When we were doing teamwork, we had to name two character traits that we thought were important that we learned out of this whole experience and I think we said respect was one of them," Paige said. "I thought that was really important ... sometimes you can apply those skills to other things and other places and other situations."

Teddy Todorov, 10; Ryan Williams, 10; Delaney Crowe, 9; Audrey Schwartz, 10; Connor Thoden, 9; and Carter Greis, 10, were also members of the team sponsored by Micron Technologies Inc.

Battlefield High School students Tyler Newton, 17; Connor Poland, 16; Danielle Loleng, 17; Kenneth Figgens, 17; Adam Nikov, 17; and Scott Kriss, 16, mentored the Mountain View Elementary pupils.

Nikov, who is on the robotics team at Battlefield, said he enjoyed teaching elementary school students a "little bit about programming, little bit about design and strategy."

"It was a lot of fun," Nikov said. "It was nice to be able to teach someone something that I've been doing now for a couple of years. It was just a great experience."

The team's win was so impressive that students will have their robot perform for the Prince William County School Board in January.

Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.