Sonic Cyborgs compete in international robotics competition

A local elementary school robotics team has returned to Columbus after competing in an international tournament.

Smith Elementary School’s Sonic Cyborgs competed in their second consecutive VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas from May 1 to May 3.

Although the Sonic Cyborgs weren’t able to garner any awards, coach Amber Payne said she was proud of the way the students competed and represented their community.

“We did have some robot issues, but the kids were able to push through and work through those and continue to do the best they were able to do,” Payne said. “I’m just really proud of this group of kids and how hard they’ve worked.”

There were 411 teams competing in the elementary division with representatives from countries all over the world. Payne said team members used some ingenuity to get past language barriers.

“It was really awesome to watch them work with teams from different countries and use Google Translate to communicate and strategize with a team from China,” Payne said.

Two of the four Sonic Cyborgs, Dawson Payne and Collin Swartzbaugh, were on the team that competed last year and were eager to impart their experience to newcomers Evan Bush, fourth grade, and Owen Johns, sixth grade.

“It was neat to watch the two that had been kind of help the others understand what was going on,” Payne said.

Only 22 Indiana teams were able to earn an invitation to the world championship, Payne said.

BCSC schools just became involved with VEX Robotics in the last two years, with the number of teams growing from three to 27 this past year.

BCSC also hosted their first couple of events— a blended league in the fall and a state qualifier tournament at Central Middle School in January.

The Sonic Cyborgs will be recognized at the upcoming BCSC School Board meeting in the Columbus North High School cafeteria on May 13 at 6:30 p.m.

Payne said team members are already looking to next season. Before the world championship ended, organizers unveiled next year’s game called “Rapid Relay.”

BCSC Robotics is likely to have some camps this summer, according to Payne.