HOUSTON, Texas - The Sharon Tiger Techs Robotics Team came away with an award at last week’s First World Championship in Houston, Texas. 

Competing in the First Lego League Division against 160 other teams from around the world, Team Orange received the Innovation Project Finalist Award which recognizes a team that utilizes diverse resources to help them gain a comprehensive understanding of a problem; has a creative, well-researched solution; and effectively communicates their findings to judges and the community.

The award recognized the Sharon team for their project, Adapt-A-Reel, an adaptive fishing device, the team created for people affected by upper limb amputations or limited fine motor skills.

The teams improved their prototype over the past 8 months, meeting with several experts including a physical and recreational therapist, PA Fish and Boat Commission, staff at Whole Life Services of Hermitage, and then tested their product several times with clients at Whole Life Services.  The team secured a provisional patent for their device.

In addition to their innovation project, the teams competed with their robot in a robot table game and competed in an alliance robot competition. The team designed, built, and programmed a LEGO EV3 Robot to complete tasks autonomously on a themed playing field.  The team competed in three matches that were each 2.5 minutes long.

Team coach Dave Tomko received the Coach of the Year Award, that is given to coaches and mentors who inspire their teams to do their best.

The Sharon Tiger Techs, funded by sponsors and the school district, includes students from 4th to 8th grades in the Sharon City School District.