The Dripping Springs High School Robotics Team won the prestigious State Farm Exhibit Design and Construction Award at the State BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) competition.
Dripping Springs HIgh’s robotics team was one of 72 qualifying teams from public and private high schools to qualify based on the team’s second-place regional finish. The state event was held at the Dr. Pepper Center in Frisco, Texas, Dec. 8-10, 2016.
Following the first round of competition, 14 teams were selected to move on based on head-to-head and an additional eight “wildcard” teams are chosen based on their engineering journals. Dripping Springs advanced as a wildcard team, but did not qualify for the final round.
The BEST competition is a robot-building challenge that also includes aspects in marketing and community outreach. Teams are given a kit of materials and a challenge that includes multiple tasks six weeks before the competition. Students design and build a robot based on their strategy to score points in competition. In addition to head-to-head competition with other schools, they also are judged on a marketing presentation and booth, spirit and community outreach, and an engineering journal. This year’s challenge was “Farm” and included tasks such as sowing seeds, turning on water spigots, and picking up corn husks.
