Viking Robotics places 27th in robo-competition

Viking Robotics, the Ballard High School chapter of FIRST Robotics, made good on its goal, finishing ahead of more than half the competition at the March 26 FIRST Robotics Seattle Regional Competition.

Viking Robotics' red robot placed 27th out of 64 entrants in the soccer-like game Breakaway.

The team's finish wasn't enough to qualify it for the March 27 elimination round, but it was an improvement over its second-to-last-place finish in 2009.

Before the competition, Craig Nielsen, Ballard High School teacher and leader of Viking Robotics, told the Ballard News-Tribune that the team looked fairly strong this year and he hoped to see a drastic improvement over the previous year.

FIRST Robotics started in 1992 in New Hampshire as a way to inspire young people to become leaders in science and technology. Now, more than 150,000 students nationwide are involved in it.

For six weeks leading up to the competition, the more than 20 Ballard High School students that comprise Viking Robotics spent three hours every weeknight and six to eight hours on weekends designing, building and testing their robot.

Click here for more photos of Viking Robotics during the March 26 competition.