Robotics Team Wins Award at Orange County Regionals
Following their strong showing at the FIRST Robotics Arizona North Regionals, Team 1836: The MilkenKnights continued performing well at their next competition, the FIRST Robotics Orange County Regional at the UCI Bren Events Center March 21-24. Boasting a competitive field, the competition featured top contenders such as Teams 3309 and 3476, who won the competition in previous years and were favorites to win again. While the MilkenKnights didn’t change anything about the robot after the Arizona North Regionals, the drive team studied all of the match videos to improve strategic planning, noted Robotics Manager Stephan Shapiro.
Competing against some tough competition made for exciting matches. The game, Power UP, challenged robots to score points by collecting power cubes (fabric covered milk crates) and placing them in various locations. First up for The MilkenKnights was Team 3309; at one point they stole a cube out of 3309’s intake, but ended up losing by a narrow margin. Following that match, they won five in a row. They went up against Team 3476 for their last match on Friday, which ended in a loss. Saturday morning, they won two matches straight and tied their third, resulting in an overall match record of 7-2-1.
The team had the 5th highest Offensive Power Ranking (OPR) of 162.72, which is the average number of points they scored during matches. Ranked 9th out of 52 teams, they teamed up with the 4th seed alliance Team 5802 Los STEMateros, from Boyle Heights, who won the previous week’s Los Angeles Regional. They were also joined by Team 7157 uBotics, from Brea. They won their quarterfinal matches against the 5th seed alliance, advancing all the way to the semifinals where they were defeated by the first seeded alliance in an extremely close match, losing by final score of 259 to 265.
Their robot was recognized for its exceptional design with the team receiving the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors. The award “celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge.” When presenting the award to the team, the judges commented, “This team impressed the judges by executing on a coherent design philosophy that allowed them to optimize their capabilities with the challenges of the game. This allowed them time to incorporate and validated an impressive array of failsafe systems that "armored" them from the rigors of the competition.” “We won this award because of the efficient design of the robot and the number of redundancies and failsafes we implemented,” remarked Shapiro.
A family affair, the team received support from some team members’ parents. Senior moms Lori Klein (Jared Hasen-Klein), and Judy Cymerman (Marcus Bernstein), organized the meals during the trip, and Aviva Levin (Zeke), brought flags and other knight-themed items for the team’s cheering section. The MilkenKnights are grateful for all of the help and support from everyone who came out to watch and those who watched from home.
In the coming weeks, the team will learn if they made it to the Nationals by way of the lottery.
Team members agree that the season has been a successful one. “Overall, the team played great and everyone is proud of our performance,” said team member Jared Hasen-Klein ’18.
“We've had an awesome season, and it was really rewarding to cap off two great competitions by earning the Industrial Design award, our first-ever technical award,” said Shapiro.
No comments have been posted
At Milken Community School, we think education is more than what you know. Our School, founded on Jewish values, is about who our children can become and how they can help others become who they might be. Because the world our children will create tomorrow is born in the School we build today, our mission is to educate our children so they can surpass us.
Non-discrimination Policy: Milken Community School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, athletic, and other school-administered programs.
Saperstein Middle School Campus
Upper School Campus
Copyright © 2024 Milken Community School