Edmonds Heights’ K-12 robotics team 3805 Atomic Robotics wrapped up its 2021 season last week, placing high in both interleague and state competitions.

The 3805 Atomic Robotics is a First Tech Challenge (FTC) team, which is part of the First program — a global program for students grades 7-12 to compete in a robot-building challenge.

Participants this year included 11 team members and four coaches and mentors. Competition season was challenging because COVID-19 made meeting in person impossible for six months, and competitions were completely remote. Despite those obstacles, the team took four awards at the Curie Interleague in late April: a 2nd place Inspire Award, 1st place Connect Award, 3rd place Motivate Award, and 3rd place Control Award.

During the state championships last week, the 3805 Atomic Robotics competed against the 24 best teams in Washington state, winning a 3rd place Inspire Award and a 3rd Place Motivate Award. During any typical season, the 3rd Place Inspire Award would qualify the team for the FTC World Championships in Houston. This year, however, the Worlds competition was cancelled due to the pandemic.

“While disappointed that we are unable to go to Worlds this season, Atomic Robotics is excited for the opportunity to skill build during the off-season and go to Worlds next year,” said the team’s Meg Isohata. “We would like to say a huge thank you to all the coaches, mentors, parents and volunteers who made this FTC season possible.”