Students from two Boulder Valley high school robotics teams scored a stunning victory at the regional FIRST competition in Denver on Saturday, March 27th, at DU's Magness Arena. Now they have a chance to compete in the world championship event in Atlanta.
Fairview High School's "Black Knights" almost didn't have a team this year, after losing their sponsor and access to the sponsor's machine shop last year (Fairview doesn't have one of its own). When Monarch teacher and robotics coach David Clark offered Fairview some room in their own robotics lab to build and store the robot, the Fairview team immediately accepted. The Nederland High School "Pirates" team has only six student members - far fewer than the 30- to 60-student teams that are often seen at these professional-caliber competitions. Building a functional 100+ pound robot in a six-week build season is a huge undertaking, especially with such a small team. The economic downturn has also made fund-raising difficult for both teams.
Performing well in the Regional competition qualifying rounds excited and satisfied both teams. Being selected as alliance-mates for the rest of the competition by the 4th ranked team, the "Flaming Chickens" from Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon, raised the level of excitement even higher. The Portland team had already won a spot at the world championship by winning the FIRST Chairman's Award at their Oregon competition. As the alliance won match after match, it was as if these three teams had been planning their strategies with each other for months when they actually had known each other for only a few minutes. When the awards were handed out, the Nederland and Fairview teams won the opportunity to compete against 340 other teams from around the world at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta.
For their generous assistance to the Fairview team, the Monarch High School "Shazbots" team won the Gracious Professionalism Award, which is just as well-regarded an achievement as winning the competition itself. Monarch also had provided some behind-the-scenes help to the Nederland Pirates during the early years of their team, and during the Denver tournament, they lent Nederland a computer battery after their robot driver console failed during the first round of the final tournament.
Now the most difficult task of the season lies ahead of the Pirates and the Black Knights - the actual travel to the Championship in mid-April, and earning enough money to keep these Boulder Valley robotics teams operating into the next season. It costs $5000 to enter the regional competition, and another $5000 to enter the Championship competition. The initial fee pays for a robot starter kit and shipping costs - but it does not include travel costs, robot production costs, supply costs, and any other miscellaneous expenses.
Anyone interested in helping these teams in their efforts can visit the team web sites for more information. Fairview's team web site is at http://fhsrobotics.org and Nederland's team site is at http://nedrobotics.org. Fairview's web site includes a video of the final, winning, match in Denver.
Fairview High School “Black Knights” Robotics Team members:
Chris Aicher, Ben Alpert, Jennifer Anderson, Tim Davis, Eric Eisenberg, Davis Goodin, Wyatt Goodin, Greg McQuie, Vignesh Muralidharan, Joel Ornstein, Dylan Ryden, Henry Shennan, Logan Wan, Jeffrey Won, Stephen Wong, Yuou Zhang.
Mentors: Ernie Banks, Wes Cole, Tim Flaherty, John Maushammer, Heather Passe.
Faculty advisors: Tammy Hearty, Ross Sutter.
Nederland High School “Pirates” Robotics Team members:
Zane Hintzman, Dustin Larsen, Jack Masterson-Newman, Ian May, Forrest Pieper, Parker Stevens.
Mentors: Brian Enke, Scott Jewell, and Lou Schornack.
Faculty advisor: Randy Sachter.
About FIRST
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. With support from more than half of all Fortune 500 companies and nearly $12 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts competitions for students from age 6 through high school. Gracious Professionalism™ is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to http://www.usfirst.org.
Fairview High School Robotics Team members.
Nederland High School Robotics Team members and mentors.
