FTC Robotics team heading to State Championships

FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team 6700, the X-BOTS, a Robotics team of high-school and middle-school FCPS students is heading to state championships after winning the prestigious Inspire Award at the Northern Virginia Qualifiers held on Dec 13, 2014. X-BOTS will be competing with winners from other qualifiers to qualify for Super-Regionals, with a dream to reach the World Championships to be held in St.Louis, MO in April 2015. This is their third straight trip to State Championships in three years of participating in FTC. “This is a great honor. To be recognized as the top team among so many good teams is awesome” said Nikhil Chintada of X-BOTS.

FTC is a program created by F.I.R.S.T (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a not-for-profit organization founded by Dean Kamen, that promotes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) for students in grades 7-12. Team X-BOTS is actively promoting FIRST and the idea of Gracious Professionalism in the community.

X-BOTS is a community team unlike many other teams that are school-based. FTC teams
- Design, build, and program robots
- Apply real-world math and science concepts
- Develop problem-solving, organizational, and team-building skills
- Compete and cooperate in alliances and tournaments
- Compete for a spot in the World Championship
- Qualify for over $13.5 million in college scholarships

The team consists of ( as shown in picture, L-R): Sidharth Rampally ( TJHSST, 9th grade), Satish Venkatesan ( Chantilly HS, 10th grade), Nikhil Chintada (TJHSST 10th grade), (in front) Ahan Shah (Fairfax HS 10th grade), Anoushka Chintada (7th grade RRMS) and Shreya Menon ( 9th grade Robinson).

X-BOTS started in 2009 in FIRST Lego League with kids having lots of fun with LEGOs and programming the NXT Mindstorms kit. In 2010, they became FIRST Ambassadors after winning the state championships and going on to represent VA/DC FLL at the Internationals at Legoland, California. As FIRST Ambassadors, X-BOTS have been actively helping many students in FCPS schools to learn about FIRST programs like FTC, FLL and Jr.FLL, getting many students started in these programs, through PTA partnerships at Rocky Run Middle School, Greenbriar West Elementary and other schools like Bull Run, Powell and Brookfield, as well as STEM focused events like STEM H. “FIRST programs are amazing and we are proud to promote STEM in the community, and have so many kids start in FIRST” said Anoushka.

X-BOTS also meet engineers in the community to learn from their real world experience in various fields such as mechanical engineering, CAD, programming as well as sponsors supporting STEM. Besides the community outreach, X-BOTS also donate a portion of funds raised to under-privileged children to promote STEM education. Shreya said, “I love everything about FTC. FTC allowed us to learn CAD, and it was a thrill to be a finalist for Design Award”.

“ I’ve been with the FIRST family for 4 years and have cherished every moment. Learning new skills every day, and working with friends makes FTC fun and not work,” said Nandin, who also excels in football and swimming.

This year’s FTC challenge is called “Cascade Effect.” More details can be found at http://www3.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc. Contact team X-BOTS info@xbots.org or visit http://xbots.org for more information.