‘Nothing But Net’ Robotics Competition Draws Students From Across The State

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AMORY, MISS.  (WCBI) – Some of the brightest scientific and engineering minds are putting their
skills to the test.
It’s part of robotics competition, and as WCBI’s Allie Martin reports, the
stakes are high.

For this contest, there are certain objectives.

“We’re doing the Nothing but Net competition, you have to shoot a ball into
a net,” said Cole Phillips, a senior at Smithville High School.

It all takes place on a 12 by 12 square field. There are two alliances,
one red and one blue, made up of two teams each. The alliances compete in
matches and each team tries to get the balls in low and high goals.

This competition is hosted by the Amory Career and Technical Center and
draws teams from across the state.

“The students have to design a machine to accomplish a task , they have to
program the machine, modify the machine’s behavior, they have to modify
mechanical attributes of a machine, this is what real engineers do,” said Jerry Larkin, who helps organize the event.

Points are awarded for each goal . Students and instructors say the
competition is tough, but the lessons learned can be used long after high
school.

“I have an engineering background and I will tell you this is the best
experience a student can have, as far as learning how to cooperate, team
building and it gets them out of their comfort zone,” said Jennifer Bennett, a teacher from Calhoun County.

“This is teaching me fundamentals, I am trying to go into engineering and
this is teaching me everything I need to know,” said Christian Buenrostro, a senior from Calhoun County.

Winners in this competition advance to the state meet this spring. In Amory

This is the first time the Amory Career and Technical Center hosted the
robotics competition.