Robotics Championship Update

By SDA Foundation • May 25, 2011

Hi SDA Administration and Teachers,

What a fantastic season it has been for Team Paradox! Thank you so much for your support that helped make it all possible. Sunday, May 1 we returned from our second consecutive world championship. This year the event was held in St. Louis, MO for the first time. We took a 49 person delegation to St. Louis.

It was a spectacular experience for the students. The World Championship is so much more than a competition. This event serves as a tremendous information resource from which the team can glean inspiration and knowledge assisting in the development of our team.

They were exposed to amazing levels of competition and engineering from 352 of the best FIRST teams from around the world.

They watched demonstrations of industrial robots (everything from the CIA to Honda), met corporate sponsors in their booths, talked with representatives from the industry, introduced themselves to recruiters from colleges and universities from around the country, visited the St. Louis Arch and were treated to a live concert from the Black Eyed Peas! Even Morgan Freeman attended the event! This was not your ordinary high school team Championship.

With respect to the competition itself, Team Paradox finished in the middle of the pack. This year the team had graduated from the Newton field to the Curie field and the competition was tough. The challenge was good for the team, and our placement confirmed that the team could compete at this higher level with success. The team had reengineered the robot arm to take advantage of many things they had learned at the first two competitions.

The robot’s performance improved steadily throughout the competition.The build and drive teams “worked through the pain” and kept their heads while working through multiple problems. They added function and performance with every match, putting in a solid final match. You can watch it on You Tube at the following link. We are on the blue alliance and our robot, Terrance, is the robot on the closest side busily hanging logo tubes and scoring first place in the mini-bot race.

Watch the video on YouTube.

Now that our competition schedule is complete we will conducted our year in review meeting, end of the season party and farewell to the seniors, elect new officers, participate in the Student showcase at the Del Mar Fair and compete in a one day competition also at the Del Mar fair (6/11 10-1, please join us!). The work of a robotics team never ends!

There is a saying at FIRST that states “We are the only high school team where every student can go pro.” This is well demonstrated by the four seniors who attended the Championship this year. Next year they will attend the following universities and pursue degrees in the field of science and engineering: