Two students from Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center competed in the Humanoid Robotics contest at the SkillsUSA National Skills and Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky from June 19 to 24 2017. Seniors, Xochitl Garcia and Rodolfo Zaragoza represented the State of Texas in the Humanoid Robotics Contest after becoming champions at the state SkillsUSA Texas Skills and Leadership Conference in Corpus Christi. Their faculty advisors are Dehua Lea and Bruce Darkis.

The NAO HRI Challenge is an activity organized in respect to the National SkillsUSA Competition events, with the support of SoftBank Robotics. The goal is to raise awareness, motivate and educate students in the use of humanoid robotics through multi-technological and innovative projects. Through programming, students create scenarios optimizing NAO’s capabilities and taking into account its limitations, thus learning about applied user experience and interaction concepts.