MHS Robotics Wins Global Award

By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor

In March, Molokai High School (MHS)’s storied robotics program received international recognition, winning the Vex Robotics Marketing Challenge. The global award qualified the MHS team for the world robotics championships in Dallas, Texas this May.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” said longtime MHS robotics coach Edwin Mendija. Of the seven robotics teams from Hawaii competing in this year’s championship, two will be from Molokai.

For the award, the robotics team submitted a video detailing their identity and mission as MHS farmers. One of the key details in the MHS submission was their focus on community service and their quintessential Molokai identity.

Prior to receiving the Vex award, MHS robotics had just wrapped up a Hawaii regional competition, where they took 16th place. The recent regional contest was organized by First Robotics. As opposed to Vex, First Robotics employees larger scaled robots on a bigger playing field. For the competition, the MHS students designed a fish-themed robot called “Onaga.”

Onaga was based on the bottom feeding fish, which mirrored the MHS team’s strategy of collecting points that the bigger robots had dropped. The MHS team designed a smaller robot, 18 by 18 inches, in order to be able to fit some of their constraints, like being able to fit it on the Mokulele plane, explained Mendija.

The smaller robot made it through the intense competition without breaking down, an important marking and the first time since 2019 that an MHS robot has made it the distance.

“It was our best showing in a while,” explained Mendija.

The robotics team is supported by the Gary O Galiher Foundation, the Maui Economic Development Board, Intuitive Foundation, Argosy and community fundraising. You can support Molokai Robotics at hcb.hackclub.com/donations/start/molokai-robotics.