Team Friarbots 3309 performed extremely well and surpassed its previous Team Best at the FIRST Los Angeles Regional Competition held March 16-17 at the Long Beach Arena.
The Friarbots Team 3309 won the Entrepreneurship Award!
The Friarbots 3309 team is comprised of students from Service, Connelly and Rosary. The following Connelly students are members of the Friarbots 3309 competition team: Victoria Reinders '12 (Public Relations Leader), Veronica Murashige '12 (Fundraising Leader), Gloria Nguyen '12, Emily Dubelbeiss '12 (Design and Computer-Aided Drafting Leader), Natalie Mirand '13, Dania Qahoush '12 and Ni Min '13.
The Tri-School team's robot was designed to shoot basketballs into a hoop while maneuvering and obstacle course of robots and ramps. Extra points were given to teams whose robots ended the rounds perched atop a ramp. Our students competed against more than 1,500 students from 66 schools. This year's game, "Rebound Rumble," is played between two alliances of three teams each. Each Alliance competes by trying to score as many of the basketballs in the hoops as possible during the two-minute and 15-second match. Balls scored in higher hoops score teams more points. Team alliances are awarded bonus points if they are balanced on bridges at the end of the match.
Dubbed a "varsity sport of the mind," FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources and a six-week time limit, students are challenged to raise funds, build and program a life-size robot and learn about teamwork. The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an exciting, multinational competition where teams of professionals and high school students work together to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events, the result of lots of focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated mentoring, project timelines, and deadlines. Ultimately, the robot is just a vehicle for spreading the message of FIRST, which is to inspire other students and shre that "smart is the new cool."
Second day of competition, Saturday, March 17: The team finished the qualifying rounds ranked very high and were then picked by an alliance (599 RoboDox and 1138 Eagle Engineering) to compete in the elimination rounds! The team won the first two matches of the quarter finals and made it to the semifinals, where the Friarbots put up a good fight "to a perennial powerhouse alliance of well-established teams," according to the frequent Facebook posts and Tweets during the two-day battle. The competition was indeed the best performance for the Friarbots in its short, three-year history, and the first time that the team was picked as part of an alliance in the elimination rounds.
First day of competition, Friday, March 16: The Friarbots Team 3309 won the Entrepreneurship Award! This award recognizes entrepreneurial spirit and recognizes a team which has developed a comprehensive business plan in order to define, manage, and achieve team objectives. Judges were impressed by our team's entrepreneurial enthusiasm and vital business skills that ensure a self sustaining program. The team also ended the day ranked 15th out of 66 teams!
Additional Awards: Team President David Carr (Servite '12) received a $1,000 scholarship as an outstanding senior scholar/roboticist and Vice President of Business James Carr '11 received the Dean's List award, which is given to a junior team members for leadership, passion and effectiveness at attaining the goals of FIRST.
