Robot teams shine at championships

Battle Ground — Three Clark County robotics teams took home high-ranking honors at a regional championship held last month in Hillsboro, Ore. Clark County 4-H Robotics team “The Soggy Cloverteers” won the first place Vernier Software Technology, Strategy and Innovation Award, while “The Camas Mechanikids” took second in that category. “The League of LEGOS” from Vancouver’s St. Joseph Catholic School also picked up a first place Google Data Center Research Award. There were 117 teams from Oregon and Southwest Washington invited to the annual Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League Championship Tournament on Jan. 19-20. The FIRST LEGO League pre-engineering program looks to help young students explore technical fields and future careers. Teams had to qualify at a tournament in December to reach the championships.