Ross Valley Robots

Ross Valley students know a thing or two about robots.

The San Domenico robotics squad took top honors took top honors in the Northern California FIRST Tech Challenge Regional tournament in Lincoln, Calif., the last weekend of January.

The three White Hill robotics teams also headed to the First Lego League championships in Rocklin last weekend and brought home their highest scores yet. Coach Nate MacDonald was also awarded Outstanding Coach of the Year.

“The kids gave us all reason to be proud,” said MacDonald. “They spent three lunch hours each week and many Saturdays preparing for this challenge and their hard work paid off!”

According to The Ross Valley Reporter, the San Domenico team recovered from an earlier disqualification to take first place in an advanced high school competition that had them design and program their own robots.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman also issued a congratulatory letter to the team.

You can see a video of the students at right.

The all-girls White Hill team of “Robogirls” advanced to the championship competition this past weekend by winning the “Champions Award” at the district finals in November. They earned the District Championship’s second place trophy for presenting the “Most Innovative Solution” for their research project on eliminating Salmonella contamination in eggs.

The sixth-grade team “Robofish” added to their “First Place Presentation Award” from the district finals by winning a “Kid's Choice Award” and placing in the top 15 overall for their robot’s performance and their in-depth research on mercury poisoning.

White Hill’s third team, “The Cows that Go Moooo” also placed in the top 15 for their strong robot performance and solid research on E coli bacteria.

You can see videos of the White Hill team at right too.