Seminole Ridge SECME finishes second in So. Fla. Championship Robotics Tournament

Seminole Ridge SECME’s VEX robotics team dominated during their qualifying matches at the South Florida Championship on Sunday, December 5, with 7 wins, no ties and no losses.

Congratulations to freshmen Conner Piegaro, Jimmie Yunck, Tavo Lemos Caicedo, and their robots who continued our school’s winning streak into the quarter and semifinals during the VEX Round Up tournament hosted Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami.

right to left: Seminole SECME students Conner Piegaro, Tavo Caicedo, and Jimmie Yunk with the B team bot during the South Florida Championship VEX Round Up tournament on December 5, 2010 at Gulliver Preparatory School in Kendall, FL.
After the qualifying matches, teams were ranked based on their performance on Win Points (WPs) and Strength of Schedule Points (SPs). Heading into the playoffs, Seminole SECME stood first out of 32 teams on the leader board with a score of 14 WPs and 83 SPs. Win Points are the first basis of ranking teams, and are awarded for winning (two points) and tying (one point) during a Qualifying Match. Strength of Schedule Points are the second basis of ranking teams, and are awarded in the amount of the score of the losing alliance in a Qualifying Match.

The top teams will then participate in the elimination matches to determine the tournament champions. During elimination match alliances of three faceoff in a best two of three series, with two teams playing in each match. The first alliance to win two matches will proceed to the next round.
Seminole SECME’s robot “BB the BombBot” scoring tubes on the goalpost at the South Florida Championship VEX Round Up tournament on December 5, 2010 at Gulliver Preparatory School in Kendall, FL.)
As the Red Alliance Captain, Conner put together a trio of teams, made from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami, and Seminole SECME from Seminole Ridge High School in Loxahatchee. The Red Alliance advanced all the way the finals, and won one against the Blue Alliance made of RAMTECH from Miami Coral Park High School, AlphaBots from Christopher Columbus High School, and GPS Robotics from Gulliver Preparatory School, all in Miami. And although the Reds lost to the Blues in the best two out of three (the final game score was 36 to 7), it is the repeated success of Seminole SECME that is remarkable.

Erich Landstrom, Seminole SECME school coordinator, points out that Seminole SECME won the Miami VEX Round Up Qualifier in October, so this tournament’s trip to the playoffs shows that our robots are clearly to be reckoned with, a Cinderella story of circuits and steel at bot ball. Landstrom is very proud of the Hawks hard work. “Giving SECME students the opportunity to work with the VEX robots promotes education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and teaches critical life skills such as teamwork, project management and problem solving.”

(right: Seminole SECME student Conner Piegaro during the South Florida Championship VEX Round Up tournament on December 5, 2010 at Gulliver Preparatory School in Kendall, FL.)

VEX Round Up is played on a 12’x12’ square field and two alliances – one “red” and one “blue” – composed of two teams. Each alliance competes in matches consisting of a twenty-second autonomous period, where the robot follows preprogrammed commands from its onboard microprocessor. This is followed by two minutes of driver directed play via radio controller. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by placing tubes upon goalposts, owning goalposts, and by low hanging or high hanging from the ladder.

The 2011 VEX Robotics World Championship is the final event in the 2010-2011 VEX Competition season. Winning teams from local and state VEX Robotics Competitions will have the opportunity to meet in Florida and compete against other top-ranked teams from around the world, playing the game VEX Round Up. The World Championship will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World® Resort near Orlando, Florida on April 14-16, 2011. Coinciding with National Robotics Week, the three-day tournament unites top middle school, high school and college robotics teams from around the world to celebrate their accomplishments and further inspire students to pursue careers in robotics and other STEM related fields.