(Photo courtesy of High Desert Droids)
Local high school robotics team High Desert Droids competed at the FIRST Robotics Competition PNW Championship tournament, April 6-8 in Cheney, Washington. The teams from the PNW come from as far as Alaska, Washington and many parts of Oregon to compete. They are the “best of the best” from our division.
Eligibility to compete at this event was based on their performance at qualifying tournaments held in Wilsonville, OR and Clackamas, OR earlier this spring.
The High Desert Droids’ robot, mCΔT (pronounced, MCAT), was designed, built and programmed over the course of six weeks this winter to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition game, FIRST Steamworks.
This year the team won the Xerox Creativity in Engineering Award (given to acknowledge the team’s unique approach to robot design and game play) three times. This was a big honor for the team since many of the components on mCΔT were handmade and built from scratch by students at the school. The robot is capable of shooting balls into a high goal, delivering a gear to a spring peg, and climbing a rope to, “board the airship in preparation for take-off.”
Season Highlights
Wilsonville Tournament: Ranked 26th after qualifying matches, first pick for 4th seed finals alliance, Semi-finalists, and winner of the Xerox Creativity Award.
Clackamas Academy of Industrial Science Tournament: Ranked 10th after qualifying matches, 7th seed finals alliance captain, Semi-finalists (upset the 2nd seed alliance in the Quarter-finals), and winner of the Xerox Creativity Award for the second time.
PNW District Championship: Ranked 30th out of the 64 teams that participated and won the Xerox Creativity Award for the third time this season. To be given the Creativity in Engineering Award at this level is a distinct privilege. This award highlights that students actively demonstrate why robot features are a unique contribution to game play in a manner that impressed multiple individuals with a variety of professional engineering experience. The team took the time to not just build a robot but truly understand what makes a great robot, remarkable! They frequently refer to this year’s robot as “The Beast”, purely based on how dynamic it is.
Highlights of the event can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/Cj6GztSTBuM
The team has qualified to compete at the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston, TX , April 19-22 and ranked 31st out of 155 teams in the Pacific Northwest District. The team, while honored to be qualified for the World Championship, has decided not to attend the competition. They are proud of what they have accomplished this season and are hopeful to qualify for and attend the world championships next year.
Who Are We? Seven-Five-Three!
FIRST Team 753 (High Desert Droids) is a student–driven team of bright individuals drawn together by a passion for working as a team, building robots, and fostering excitement in science and technology through FIRST. Formed in 2002, the team is based out of Mountain View High School and is comprised of students ages 14 and older from across Central Oregon.
About the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)
“The varsity Sport for the Mind,” FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to raise funds, design a team “brand,” hone teamwork skills, and build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It’s as close to “real-world engineering” as a student can get. Volunteer and professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team. For more information, visit the FIRST website (http://www.usfirst.org/).
