O-Bots Robotics Team Competes in World Championships in Detroit

For six of the last eight years, the Ossining High School O-Bots team has made it to the World Championships of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition.

In the past, team members largely earned their place in the competition for their work in supporting middle school students, bringing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to the community and promoting FIRST. This year, the strength of the robot was the main reason they secured a spot. Twenty-one club members made the trip to the championships in late April.

“This year has been even more beyond our dreams than any other year because a lot of our success has really been from our robot’s performance,” said senior Kellen Cooks, a robot driver and member of the mechanical team. “We’re really showing the balance between the ways that we spread STEM into our community and the quality of our robots and what we do inside this classroom as well.”

The O-Bots (Team 4122) were in the Tesla subdivision and were competitive the entire time, said OHS science and engineering teacher Douglas Albrecht, one of the club’s mentors. “They matched up well with the best robots in the world,” he said. “The team worked with other schools and demonstrated gracious professionalism in determining the strategic plan for playing their matches and executing their vision.”

Students also attended conferences about team organizations and scholarships, as well as the Innovation Faire, whose exhibitors included companies like Ford, GM, NASA and SpaceX. OHS science teachers Mark Scinta and Michelle Portillo, and mentor Ken Ocheltree led the team in Detroit.

All teams received details of the competition in January and had six weeks to build a robot. This year’s game was called Destination: Deep Space. Robots could perform multiple tasks to earn points during competition: place hatch panels on their rockets and cargo ships, load cargo for transport off the planet and return to their habitats.

The O-Bots decided early on that their robot would do everything – and do it well. “This was really the year where all of us were on the same page. We said let’s work extra hard,” said senior Flo De Armas, Engineering Club president.

They spent many hours after school working on the robot, Mr. Albrecht said. In addition to the OHS teachers, the students received support from parent mentors, especially Dr. Ken Ocheltree and John Curvan.

The O-Bots excelled at both regional competitions leading up to Detroit: the Hudson Valley Regional, which they helped create a few years ago; and the New York City Regional, where the team won an Industrial Design Award for the quality of the robot’s design and its effectiveness.

“It's amazing watching these kids develop the interpersonal skills of knowing when to be a leader, and when to follow,” Mr. Albrecht said. “Teamwork, initiative and grit are buzzwords in industry. This is where kids learn skills that will set them apart for their entire career."

Kellen said the competition places a lot of pressure on students, but it is great preparation for the future. “It gives us the time-management skills, project-management skills, being able to map things out and do the things that we do with limited resources,” he said.

The O-Bots’ junior varsity team, which is for freshmen and sophomores, also was successful at the New York City Regional, ranking seventh in the playoffs. “It’s really difficult to place that high at such a young age,” Flo said.

The trip to Detroit was expensive for students, but the team fundraised and received some donations from IBM, Siemens and the U.S. Department of Defense. Although the JV team did not compete in the World Championships, several members accompanied the O-Bots.

The Engineering Club created the JV team two years ago because there was so much interest. Unlike some schools’ engineering clubs, which have application processes, anyone is welcome in the O-Bots. “We’re unique in that we have an open-door policy,” said senior Mia Gunn, director of external affairs for the club.

Creating a second team ensured more students could actively participate, senior Mihika Singhal said. About 100 people are registered this year. “They see our program and how successful we’ve been,” she said.

The club’s inclusivity policy extends beyond grade level. Ten members are English language learners, and the O-Bots actively recruit from all of the student body at OHS.

“With the outreach that we’ve done, we see that it’s not a universally recognized issue that not only are girls being excluded, but all these different groups of people, like people with disabilities, are being excluded,” Flo said. “Here at our high school, we make sure to cater to everyone and make sure everyone knows that they have this opportunity. That’s something that’s really important to us."