RoboGym Robotics, North Shore High School’s FIRST Robotics team, in its 13th season has won the NYC FIRST Robotics Competition!
During the event, RoboGym went 7-2 in qualification rounds, was selected for the 3rd seeded playoff alliance, and went 5-0 in the playoffs in an amazing run to the win!
Robogym also won the Quality Award, which celebrates machine robustness in concept and fabrication.
Their win advances them to the World Championships in Houston TX, April 17-20. The team will go to compete against the top teams from around the world.
Principal Eric Contreras said, “We are beyond proud of our high school robotics team on their regional championship and their qualification for the Robotics World Championship. All year, we witnessed the hard work, ingenuity, creativity, and engineering skills of our students as they designed, prototyped, and modified their robot. Throughout the process the students were the collective sum of all their skills in mechanical engineering, software engineering, design engineering, community relations, marketing, and fundraising.”
He added, “The NSHS robotics team exemplifies true team innovation and effort. Throughout the robotics season the students have used our new CAD room, upgraded woodshop, new metal shop and new robotics lab. We are grateful to the community for their investment in learning and design spaces that provide the tools and classrooms today for our students to be the innovators of tomorrow. We wish the team the best of luck at the World Robotics Championship in Houston, Texas!”
Overall this season, Robogym has had their most successful season to-date.
In their first competition, at Rockland Community College, they became Finalists. The students made many changes and re-engineered many subsystems and programming.
Their second regional, at Hofstra University, they won the Industrial Design award which celebrates the team that demonstrates industrial design principles, striking a balance between form, function, and aesthetics. They were also alliance captains and advanced to the semifinals.
FIRST Robotics Competition is the top-level High School Robotics program. Combining the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited time and resources, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team “brand,” hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get. High-school student participants call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have.”
Robogym Robotics has earned a spot at 4 World Championships over the past 13 seasons.
Alumni have gone on to pursue successful careers in engineering and business, with some notable alumni at companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and SpaceX.
Students are also eligible for unique scholarship opportunities for being on the team. Students who move into college have a competitive advantage through the skills learned on the team.
In addition, RoboGym Robotics holds outreach events to help inspire younger students to pursue stem fields. Events such as demonstrations at our elementary schools, and programs at the Gold Coast library to name a couple.
The coaches of the team are Mr. Bridgwood and Mr. Peroni.
Mr. Peroni said, “Through North Shore Schools support of Robogym Robotics, a difference has been made in countless lives. I have seen students transform before my eyes through these authentic real-world experiences. These kids are doing industry level work and gaining specialized soft and hard skills needed for their career paths. Thousands of hours of dedicated by the students paid off. In addition, our alumni are doing incredible things and have reinforced the success and need of this type of program for our district.”
He went on to say, “We’d like to thank Dr. Z, Mr. Contreras, the Board, and all of our supporters and sponsors for helping our team with our mission to inspire students to pursue their dreams in STEM.”