DCS wins best of show in Mini Urban Challenge

Lafayette, LA - The DCS Robotics Club competed against 11 other teams from across the state in the Mini Urban Challenge.

In this challenge, teams must build an program a robot that can navigate through a model lego city and park at three assigned parking lots before returning home.  Teams are given 30 minutes with the course to set up and attempt up to three scoring runs.  

Although Delhi Charter’s robot “Navi-Gator” successfully completed the entire course in the 30 minute window, it wasn’t counted as a scoring run, so the team had to use their second-best run, in which Navi-Gator parked at two of the three assigned parking structures.  Despite this, Navi-Gator’s unique design, which included a rotating head that could detect incoming traffic at intersections, earned the team Best of Show at the competition.  Other award winners were North Caddo Parish, who won second place as well as Best Presentation, and Holy Cross, who took the first place award.  

“I’m really proud of our team this year,” said DCS Robotics Coach, Eric Vidrine. “When we started this challenge, the students had no idea how they would design a robot to accomplish a task so complex.  That they were able to complete the entire course in their first year competing is an amazing achievement.”  

Their latest award from the Mini Urban Challenge caps of a spectacular competitive season for the club.  Other achievements for the robotics club this year include winning the LaTech BEST competition, winning VEX state qualifier tournaments at both LSU and ULL, and being a finalist in VEX Louisiana Championship.  

Now that the competition season has ended, the club is already planning their next event: a robotics day camp for 4th and 5th graders that will be held May 2.