Portledge in the Now.

Portledge Robotics Teams Advance to Tech Challenge Championship

Danny Nelson & Kevin Coleman
It was a nerve wracking, yet exciting day for the Portledge robotics teams that attended the FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifier at Syosset High School on January 28th. Team 7417 had a successful, undefeated day (5-0) and was ranked number two out of twenty eight teams going into the semi-final elimination round. This seeding secured them an alliance captain spot. Team 11649 was ranked 9th after pool-play and was having a really solid day, too, which was thanks to some great driving skills and a reliable ball launching mechanism. Sadly, Team 8818 had major issues with their robot controllers and modules. Mechanically it was a sound robot, but some unknown issue kept causing an error. Though the students on Team 8818 were disappointed, they never gave up and spent the entire event trying to troubleshoot the various issues that kept popping up.
 
During the semis, Team 7417 played some great matches with their alliance partners right up to the last second. They didn't advance to the finals, but were AWESOME! After the finals were completed, the organizers announced the winning teams and presented awards. Team 11649, "Robo Time," was presented with the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, which "celebrates a team that not only thinks outside the box, but also has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their designs come to life!" Portledge Junior, Ke Cheng Yu, accepted the award on behalf of the team. The surprises didn't end there, though. After all of the awards were presented, event organizers read off the 8 teams that would be advancing to the SBPLI Championship on February 11th in Smithtown, and two of our teams were listed! Team 11649 advanced for winning the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award and Team 7417 advanced for having the highest points of the day for a team that didn't advance to the championships by winning the finals.

Upon returning to class, students spent time discussing what went well during the qualifier, what issues they experienced and ways to make minor modifications and slight redesigns to improve their robots. Even though they were not advancing, Team 8818 replaced their electronics and rewired their entire robot to get it up and running. We also spent time practicing presenting our robots during the judging portion.

On February 11th we attended the Long Island FIRST Tech Challenge Championships hosted by Smithtown High School West. Our two teams that advanced faced a higher caliber of competitors, but still performed admirably. Jeremy Berger '17 and Ke Cheng Yu '18 represented Team 11649 and made it all the way to the finals as the third team selected for the first placed ranked alliance. The alliance won the semis, but lost two of the three matches in the finals. Jeremy and Cheng did a great job, though!

The students, Mr. Colemen and Mr. Nelson would all like to thank the parents and families who have supported the program this year. You all have played an important role in making this year a success! Thank you!

This link will take to you the album where photos from the Portledge Robotics Qualifiers are located. Feel free to share this link with the kids and their parents. Everyone can create their own account, choose their favorites, download photos for free, and purchase prints as they so choose: http://avocebehindthelens.pass.us/012817_portledge_robotics_qualifiers/
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