April 25, 2007

FingerLlakes Regional...

The Mechanical Maurauders made their first appearance on the competetion scene more as a warm-up for our local regional that would be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead NY later that month.13 members of the team flew up to Rochester NY staying in the RIT dorms for the three nights Wed. thru Fri. Even though it was a warm up shake down run for the team we competed in the quarter finals under the driving skills of Anthony Farino , operating talents of Garrett Dipietro, ball shooting accuracy of Andrew Stievling and Terrell Carter. These talanted students were mentored/guided not by an adult mentor during the game, but by the all seeing, quick thinking Christian Morck.

LONG ISLAND SBPLI REGIONAL

Over 40 teams competed in this annual “Battle of the Bots” event to test the skill of the Robots these students designed, built and programmed under the guidance of their advisors & mentors. Upon entering the semi-finals, the 3-team Alliance was formed to combine shooting accuracy, defense abilities, and navigational skills in what proved to be a powerful combination. Working together in the finals, our Alliance scored points by shooting hoops, blocking opponents, and navigating ramps during the best “2 out of 3” rounds. The Bay Shore Alliance dominated the first round 96 to 52 and our opponents responded by winning the second round. The pressure grew when the third round was declared a tie and a fourth round was called for a technical scoring malfunction! It came down to round five with each team trying to keep their robots working; but with little time between the rounds, the damage was taking its toll. In a final robotic fury, the Alliance won 87 to 48 sending all three of its bots up the ramp!

ATLANTA GEORGIA NATIONAL COMPETETIONS

A package containing motors, sensors, transmissions, batteries, and a camera is all a team gets when they enter the US FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics competition. Restrictions on a robot's width, height, weight, additional parts, and even bumpers are announced, along with a building season deadline of only six weeks after the Robotics Competition Kickoff. And the Bay Shore High School Robotics Team pulled it off magnificently.

The team, consisting of about 20 student participants, got the requirements for their robot in January, and began working diligently, with the assistance of their mentors, Mr. Charles Kavanagh, Mr. Pete Burke, and Mr. Sully Chen. Weekly Wednesday night meetings were scheduled, some lasting six hours or more, going into midnight or early morning. As the deadline closed in, the weekly meetings became daily meetings, the team spending every spare moment of their time drawing up designs, making parts, and programming.

But all their hard work was not in vain. By the time their second Regional rolled around, Team 271 was ready to win. And that's exactly what they did. Chosen by the highest-ranked team at the regional, their alliance won, automatically moving forward to the Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Nationals took place at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta from April 27th to April 29th. There were 344 teams registered for the event (out of a beginning number of 1,125 teams worldwide), spread across four divisions. Team 271 was placed in the Archimedes division along with 85 other teams, one of them from Montreal, Canada and another from Porto Alegre, Brazil. The first day was for practice rounds, during which teams got their robots ready for action. The second day of the Nationals was when the actual competition started, beginning with an elaborate opening ceremony and going on to the first of 72 qualifying rounds that were to take place that day. When the day came to a close, Bay Shore was undefeated, winning five out of five qualifying rounds, something that would be critical in the alliance pickings the following day. The teams went back to the pits to clean up their robots, evaluate their performances, and fix whatever problems they may have faced on the field, preparing for the day ahead.

The third day was where all hard work paid off. It began with the end of the qualifying rounds and then leading into Alliance Selections. The Bay Shore team was chosen by the then third-ranking team, taking it into the quarter-finals and then the semi-finals.

While they didn't make it to the finals, when it was all over, Bay Shore placed third in their division. The team looks forward to its upcoming scrimmages (where the roles will switch for some members as new drivers take the controls) and to competition in 2007.