Robo Girls take first place at competition

MOSES LAKE — The Robo Girls took home two first place awards from the annual Washington robotics competition.

The six-member group from Girl Scout Troop 1238 won first place in the project and presentation category in the regional competition and first place for robot design at the state level.

Group member Isabel Curry said she is proud of the group.

“I was proud of the way we each contributed to the design of the robot,” said the 13-year-old.

She added she enjoyed teaching the new members of the Robo Girls, roughly half of the team, how to program the robot the most.

“You get to show them what was the most fun for you and how to program the robots,” said Curry.

First time robotics competitor Atta Dieng said the most memorable part of the robotics competition for her was when their robot malfunctioned during an operation and the group collectively decided to abort the mission and move on, instead of wasting time.

“We only had about two minutes and 45 seconds before time ran out for us to finish the course. So, instead of wasting more time, we decided to stop that run and go on to another one,” said Dieng, 11.

The 2010 robotics competition marks the second time the Robo Girls competed in the competition. A year earlier, the girls took home first place in the regional competition.

The trip to the 2010 regional and state competition was sponsored by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, Moses Lake Clinic, Takata and Moses Lake Athletic Club.

Carol Hohn, one of three Robo Girls coaches, said she was impressed by the girls.

“It was really nice to see the maturity level as they got older. They were able to handle the stress and challengers better,” she said.