A couple of local high school students are making a name for themselves in the robotics world having been named Robotic Skills Champions at a national VEX Robotics Signature Event held at the University of North Dakota (UND) last month. Davis High junior Landon Jacobs and Farmington High junior Kevin Li make up the team Pika Pika Robotics, named after their favorite childhood character Pikachu. 

“My mom made the suggestion,” said Li. “We watched it as kids and it stuck with us.”

Li has been into robotics for four years and Jacobs got involved last year. “We met during debate,” said Li. “I met with Landon and thought he’d really fit as a teammate and the journey started. We decided to start our own neighborhood club.”

“Kevin is probably the best robotics driver in the state – in the world,” said Jacobs. “I just asked for the position of water boy.”

“I was in my elementary school robotics program,” said Li. “I liked to build Legos and stuff. That was the year COVID hit when I was in sixth grade. I came back to it in my eighth grade year. It became my passion.”

Pika Pika has been to five competitions so far, Jacobs said. “In the North Dakota Signature there were teams from Canada as well. We won the Amaze Award for performance and then we were named Robotics Skills Champion.”

In the event, student teams pit their robots against other teams using wheeled, motorized platforms that are able to grasp and manipulate objects, according to a UND release. Teams earn points by stacking plastic donuts on portable pegs, then moving those pegs to certain spots in a set amount of time.

“We need to do something to get young folks excited and interested in STEM and engineering science careers,” said Andrew Dahlen, organizer of the event and UND lecturer in Mechanical Engineering. “Manufacturers are talking about the same thing. We must have that impactful experience to get folks excited and interested and point them in the right direction, then show them, explicitly, these are future career paths.”

“It’s really stressful but rewarding,” said Li. “It pays off if you do the work ahead of time. You have to be very meticulous. Any wrong move or mistake you make you can’t compete in the rest of it. It's a single elimination. Afterwards, you can sit back and look at what you did.”

Li said they buy resources from Vex Robotics to build their machines. “We get metal structures, gears, wheels. You buy the parts but design the robot yourself. For competitions you have an 88 watts of motor power restriction and it must be able to fit in a 18x18x18 cube. You tune the robot once it’s mechanically functional and then you start programming it.”

In each match there are 15 seconds that the robot has to operate solely off of autonomous code, he said. “It’s not something you just step in and start building.”

Each robot has different features, said Li. “The robotics we took to North Dakota we spent over 100 hours on.”

To receive the Amaze Award teams have to have professional interviews, he said. “You have to perform and talk about your exhibit. You can’t be shy, you have to stand out. Everyone has to do their part.”

Pika Pika will be going to a competition in Hershey, Pennsylvania this month. “It’s not simple,” said Li. “You have to work hard to achieve success but that hard work pays off.” λ