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| 20111022 VEX Belen Jesuit |
(Click play to watch videos from VRC Belen Jesuit Prep)
Seminole Ridge students from VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) team “Underdogs” soared through the semifinals, but fell during the finals, at the Miami Official VEX Gateway qualifier hosted at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami this past weekend.
VRC team 1614 was comprised of 3 members: freshmen Bert Sivongsay, sophomore Jesse Mendheim, and junior Kadeem Spencer. To prepare for the competition, the group worked together to design and build a robot (with the assistance of sophomore Connor Piegaro) using the VEX Robotics Design System that could quickly and efficiently solve specific obstacles and challenges that come with playing the game VEX Gateway.
The action-packed day required middle and high school students to execute VRC Gateway, a game played on a 12’x12’ square field. Two alliances – one “red” and one “blue” – composed of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a twenty-second autonomous period followed by two minutes of driver-controlled play. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by scoring barrels and balls in goals, earning bonus points and doubling or negating goals. As tournament finalists, the team has qualified for the chance to compete during the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship in California against top teams from over 20 countries worldwide.
While the Red Alliance of Team 4411A “WARwolf ROBOTICS” from the TERRA Environmental Research Institute and Team 5959 “RAMTECH” from Miami Coral Park Senior High School won the event overall, many other teams received esteemed awards. Award-winners included Seminole SECME’s Blue Alliance partners, Team 4330N “Invention” from Ransom Everglades Middle School in Miami.
Seminole Ridge SECME Team 1614 will be competing in the upcoming South Florida Championship VRC on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami. The event is open and free for media, families, and other community members to attend.
The Underdogs team raises funds to cover the cost of the robot parts, competition entry fees and transportation expenses by outreaching to the local community for support. Please support STEM education. You can help us by making your direct donation to Seminole SECME. Learn more about Adopt-A-Classroom at http://tinyurl.com/AdoptSeminoleSECME . Give $3, $30, or $300 -- all financial gifts are welcome.
Erich Landstrom, the team’s advisor said, “I am proud of these students for their ability. The students competed with and against 32 teams from south Florida, rising to become one of the final four teams at the end. We are building more than robots here - we are shaping our future innovators to positively impact the world around them.”
Each week, SECME students apply what they’ve learned about science, technology, engineering and math in order to build the semiautonomous machines. An equally important set of skills is learned through the competition -- communication, project management, site management and the importance of composure, because students have to learn to fail faster: not just how to win but also how to recover from losing. They work together on a variety of challenges and obstacles - requiring them to develop new problem-solving skills both individually and as a collective whole - as they think, create, build and amaze, to design a robot that they will use to compete in one of many tournaments throughout the year.
Joining a VEX Robotics Competition team enables students to experience a variety of roles on the team, and share responsibility for all aspects of the building, programming, designing and management process. No prior experience is required, just one’s imagination, desire to build, and willingness to be a team player.
