This Saturday The South West regional BotBall Competition was held at the University of San Diego. Thirty- Two teams from 19 schools competed. We were the only Arizona team among 32 California teams. This competition is supported by NASA, Innovation First, University of Hawaii, and IRobot.
The Team from Fountain Hills consisted of:
High school ÃÂ
Jason Hulme ÃÂ Captain and lead programmer
Nicco Radda ÃÂ back up programmer
Ken Lanza ÃÂ programmer and robot construction
Tom Picianno ÃÂ Robot Construction
Colin McWilliams ÃÂ Robot tactics and construction
Middle School-
Keith McWilliams ÃÂ Robot Construction
Alberto Ruelas ÃÂ Robot Construction
Chistopher Wagner ÃÂ Robot Construction
WE had two robots. One robot was built to collect points for winning and a second had a unique blocking device to stop the competitors from winning.
The seeding rounds are where you are by yourself on the board and judges award points for your ability to score points in two minutes. This determines placement and it goes on for three rounds. After the first round we were in third place over all. By the third round we were in 6th place over all.
The direct competition was very aggressive with robot parts and a few robots flying off the tables as both sides have their robots rush to gather points. We were given an exempt from the first round of competition since we were in the top eight teams. WE proceeded to win the next four competitions loosing competition five. The competitions are double elimination so we were still in the competition and therefore not eliminated.
WE won the next round and ended up in the top eight finalist teams. After two rounds as a finalist we were finally eliminated.
When all the points were added up we ended up in eighth place over all. Last year we were ranked approximately 20 out of 36 teams. WE had quite a performance this year.
The team was awarded a certificate of participation, A plaque for ÃÂMost Innovative Blocking techniqueÃÂ for the competition and finally a plaque for being a ÃÂFinalistÃÂ and 8th over all in the competition. [team picture enclosed]
We are proud of each an every team member in the competition. Three of the eight team members were eight graders.
Dr. Paul McElligott
Science Department Chair
President - FHEA
Summer School Director
Fountain Hills High School
16100 Pallisades Blvd
Fountain Hills, AZ 85268
480-664-5573(phone)
480-664-5599(Fax)
"If you are not part of the solution,
you are part of the precipitate!"
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From: Paul McElligott
