Hopkinton Robotics Team 6th at World Championships

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was written by Hopkinton High School student and robotics team member Mike Stratton for the Hopkinton High School PressIt is used with permission.

May 3, 2011- returned home late Saturday night from St. Louis where the FIRST Robotics FTC Championship was held in the Edward Jones Dome.

The team was in the Top 5 for most of the competition and was in first place going into its last match but finished sixth after a mistake in autonomous programming.

The top four teams in each division advance, so the team's sixth place in its division of 64 did not qualify it for the finals.  The robotics team lost only two matches.

"Everyone, from event officials to team parents, were impressed with the accomplishments of this first year team," team mentor Sterling Worrell said.

Hillers team members Nick VanBeek, Ian Randall, Mike Stratton, Angelica Heeney, Brent Heavey, Mike DiBennidetto and Tony Gao said they felt overwhelmed walking into the championship. They still excelled through the competition.

Before the competition, the team often worked until 6 or 7  weeknights and continued to practice and prepare during April vacation.

The competition was hosted by FIRST* Robotics and the winner was awarded the title of World Champion.  

The Hillers participated in the FIRST Technology Challenge, or FTC competition, which was designated the Get Over It challenge.  

Get Over It required teams to build a robot almost from scratch that was capable of grabbing batons from dispensers located on all sides of the game field. The team named its robot Rudy. Rudy then had to put the batons into cup-like scoring structures throughout the game field. 

The robot also had to get over a midfield barrier by lowering, crossing and finally balancing on a see-saw bridge.

The Hillers developed a strategy that worked well throughout the competition. Their highest score was 126 - only 4 points from the world record.

Although the loss was disappointing, the trip provided valuable experience to prepare the robotics team for future competitions. 

It was not all work, and the team attended a FIRST-sponsored Black Eyed Peas concert Friday night.

Overall, the competition was great experience and a remarkable accomplishment for the first-year team.

Though the FTC season is over, it is not the end of HHS Robotics for the school year. The team plans to demonstrate the robot to various groups to raise awareness of the program and highlight its accomplishments.

A video of the Hillers robot in action can be seen by clicking this link to hhspress.org.

 To help defray the cost of the robotics team's trip to St. Louis, please make a check to “Hopkinton High School,” put “robotics” in the memo line, and mail it to Hopkinton High School, c/o Mr. Sterling Worrell, Robotics Club Advisor, 90 Hayden Rowe St., Hopkinton, MA 01748.

*FIRST is an acronym For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology.