Tag Archives: MONROVIA, Calif.

Monrovia High School Robotics Team Advances to 2015 FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship for Second Year in a Row

Kings and Queens robotics team

MONROVIA, Calif., April 7, 2015 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- The Monrovia High Robotics Program announced today that the ten Monrovia High School students of the "Kings and Queens" robotics team and their purple robot "Sir Lancelot" qualified to advance to the 2015 FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics World Championships for a second year in a row as a result of their excellent performance at the West Super-Regional Robotics Tournament held in Oakland March 26-28.

The tournament brought together 72 champion teams who were winners at state and regional competitions held in 13 western states. The Kings and Queens will be among the 128 top teams from around the world to compete at the World Championships which will be held at the historic Union Station in St. Louis April 22-25. Only 42 teams who competed in last year's World Championship earned the right to come back again this year.

The Kings and Queens team, four seniors, one sophomore and five freshmen, designed and built their own 18 by 18 inch robot from t-slot channel, Plexiglas, and formed aluminum to compete in the annual FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics competition. Each year FTC creates a new game challenge and teams build a new robot to accomplish the requirements of that season's game. This season's challenge is to gather up hollow "wiffle" baseballs and golf balls from the playing field and fill goals made of vertical plastic tubes up to four feet high while never touching the tubes themselves.

The Kings and Queens are well known in the FTC community for their driving skill, unique robot designs, their signature costumes of purple velvet gold-embroidered renaissance dresses and gold tiaras for the girls and fur-trimmed black velvet jerkins with purple capes and gold crowns for the boys, and for their supporter's cheer of "Huzzah!" whenever they score points.

Team Captain Melissa Johnson commented, "We are so excited to advance to the World Championship, and very proud to represent both our school and the entire Southern California FIRST Tech Challenge region."

This marks the second trip to the world championships for Monrovia High School's five-year-old FTC robotics program which fields five student robotics teams supported by company sponsors, community donations, and parents, and is led by physics teacher Tom Dobson. The Monrovia High School robotics program is actively seeking tax-deductible donations and company sponsorships to help cover the approximate $12,000 cost of taking the team to St. Louis.

Donations may be made through the team's GoFundMe page at http://www.gofundme.com/kingsandqueens2015.

For additional info about the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition visit: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc.

Team on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FtcTeam4625 .

*PHOTO for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/15-0407-kingqueens-300dpi.jpg
Caption: Kings and Queens Team After Winning Top Inspire Award.

*PHOTO for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/15-0407-lancelot-300dpi.jpg
Caption: Kings and Queens Robot "Sir Lancelot."

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/monrovia-high-school-robotics-team-advances-to-2015-first-tech-challenge-world-championship-for-second-year-in-a-row-2015-0407-05.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Monrovia High Robotics Program :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2015 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

Five Queens and their Robot qualify for World Championship

Kings And Queens Team

MONROVIA, Calif., March 27, 2014 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Five young women from Monrovia High School and their rhinestone-encrusted robot qualified to advance to the 2014 First Tech Challenge Robotics World Championships as a result of their strong performance at the West Super-Regional Robotics Tournament held near Sacramento at the former McClellan Air Force Base this past weekend, the Monrovia High School Robotics Program announced today.

The Monrovia team, the only qualifier from the Los Angeles area, joins three San Diego teams and four Northern California teams to be among the 128 top teams from around the world to compete at the First Robotics World Championships to be held at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis April 23-26, 2014.

A total of 24 teams advanced from the West Super-Regional including teams from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona.

These five junior class women - the "Kings and Queens" team - stand out not just for their signature costumes of purple-velvet-and gold-embroidered renaissance dresses and the purple and gold medieval royal pavilion where the team relaxes between matches. Their purple robot "Your Highness" performed flawlessly during the competition even after a failure of the robot's transport cart sent it plunging to the floor of the arena in an unplanned four-foot "drop test." In fact, during the crucial and difficult software-controlled "autonomous period" of the matches, Your Highness achieved a perfect record of 10 of 10 successful autonomous runs scoring an average of 56 autonomous points per match out of a possible 60.

The members of the Kings And Queens team - Amanda Sullivan, Melissa Johnson, Emma McIntosh, Jordan Nunez and Nicole Miller - designed and built their 18 by 18 inch robot from Tetrix parts, Plexiglas, metal shapes and machined aluminum to compete with alliances of robots on a 12 by 12 foot field. In competitions the robots are required to perform a variety of tasks in 2-1/2 minutes including picking up 2-inch plastic cubes and depositing them into elevated goals, navigating a wooden ramp, raising a flag up a pole, and gripping a cross bar and pulling themselves up completely off the floor, all while coordinating with a partner robot and while sharing the field with an opposing team of robots intent on accomplishing the same tasks.

This marks the first trip to the world championships for Monrovia High School's four-year-old FTC robotics program which fields four separate student robotics teams supported by company sponsors, the community, and parents, and is led by physics teacher Tom Dobson. The success of the Kings And Queens caps a strong year for Monrovia High which saw all four of the program's teams qualify over the season to compete in the Los Angeles Regional Championship Tournament held in Monrovia in February. At the L.A. regional tournament the Kings And Queens team was awarded the Inspire Award, FTC Robotics highest award naming them the "role-model" team for their on-field success, teamwork, inspiration to others, representation of the First Robotics program to their school and community, and embodiment of "Gracious Professionalism," the core value of the FIRST program.

The Monrovia High FTC robotics after-school program is one of many opportunities at Monrovia High School supporting STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and math) in conjunction with Monrovia's Math and Science Academy, and supported by the Monrovia Schools Foundation.

The Monrovia High School FTC robotics program is actively seeking tax-deductible donations and company sponsorships to help cover the approximate $13,000 cost of taking the team to St. Louis in April. Donations may be made through our GoFundMe page at http://www.gofundme.com/75ehc4 .

The Kings And Queens Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/FtcTeam4625 .

More information about Monrovia High School: http://www.monroviaschools.net/MHS .

* PHOTO 1 300dpi: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/14-0326-queens-drivers_300dpi.jpg .

* Photo 1 Caption: Kings And Queens driver team waits for match to begin.

* PHOTO 2 300dpi: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/14-0327-your-highness_300dpi.jpg .

* Photo 2 Caption: Kings And Queens robot "Your Highness."

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/Five-Queens-and-their-Robot-qualify-for-World-Championship_2014-03-0327-002.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Monrovia High School Robotics Program :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2014 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

Five Queens and a Robot Win Top Honors and Head to Sacramento

Kings And Queens

MONROVIA, Calif., Feb. 27, 2014 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Five young women from Monrovia High School and their rhinestone-encrusted robot won the top Inspire Award at the Los Angeles FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) Regional Championship Tournament held at Monrovia this past Saturday, the Monrovia High School Robotics Program announced today. Along with six other teams from cities ranging from Santa Barbara to San Diego, they advance to compete with top teams from eleven western states, Alaska and Hawaii in McClellan, Calif., near Sacramento on March 20-22, 2014 at the West Super-Regional FTC Championship.

These five junior class women - the "Kings and Queens" team - designed and built their own 18 by 18 inch robot from Tetrix parts, plexiglass, and machined aluminum to compete with alliances of robots on a 12 by 12 foot field. They stand out not just for their driving, design prowess, and their robot's ability to raise a flag and pull itself up on a bar. Heads turn as they drive their purple robot "Your Highness" while wearing their signature costumes of purple-velvet-and gold-embroidered renaissance dresses. They also spread the word of robotics design as they share their robot adventures with elementary and middle-school students around Monrovia.

Engineer and computer programming judges from major regional companies chose the team from among a field of the top 48 FTC robotics teams from throughout Southern California as the "role-model" team for their on-field success, teamwork, inspiration to others, representation of the First Robotics program to their school and community, and embodiment of "Gracious Professionalism," the core value of the FIRST program.

This win is the first Regional champion from Monrovia High School in its four-year-old FTC robotics program, supported by company sponsors and members of the community and led by physics teacher Tom Dobson. Monrovia High School advanced four teams to the Los Angeles Regional Championship, which drew winners from eight qualifier competitions from Los Angeles out to the High Desert. This high school FTC after-school program is one of many opportunities supporting STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and math) in conjunction with Monrovia's Math and Science Academy. A second of Monrovia High's four FTC Robotics teams, "Team R.E.D.," won an alternate spot for the Super-Regional tournament.

Winning teams in the West Super-Regional Competition will advance to the international championships in St. Louis, Mo. on April 23-26, 2014. The Monrovia High School FTC robotics program welcomes tax-deductible donations and company sponsorships to help cover the cost of traveling to Sacramento and hopefully on to St. Louis.

About FIRST:

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST(R) (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $16 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST(R) Robotics Competition (FRC(R)) for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST(R) Tech Challenge (FTC(R) ) for Grades 7-12; FIRST(R) LEGO(R) League (FLL(R)) for Grades 4-8; and Junior FIRST(R) LEGO(R) League (Jr.FLL(R)) for Grades K-3. Gracious Professionalism(R) is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community.

About the FIRST Tech Challenge Competition (FTC):

In the FTC program, teams of middle and high school age teens design and build robots to address game challenges announced each September. Each robot must be built using only specified parts and materials, and the entire robot must occupy a space no larger than 18x18x18-inches at the start of each match. In this year's game, "Block Party," robots pick two-inch yellow plastic cubes from the floor and deposit them into elevated goals on a balance beam, raise a flag, and grab a bar suspended three-feet high and lift itself completely off the surface. Robots compete in five 2-1/2 minute matches over the course of four hours that combine a 30-second pre-programmed period using sensors and software written by the teams to drop blocks into goals marked with infrared beacons and navigate onto a wooden ramp, and a two minute teen-driven period using game controllers. Teams compete in pairs for the highest score, with the pairings randomly assigned, and a team's partner in one match can be their opponent in another.

More than 140 teams compete in the Los Angeles FTC Region from schools, community groups, and other organizations. Teams sign up each September and compete November through February in the region.

To learn more about the FIRST Robotics organization:
http://www.usfirst.org/ .

For more information about The Kings And Queens, Team R.E.D., the Monrovia High School Robotics Program, or the "Block Party" game:
Thomas Dobson
Monrovia High School Physics Teacher
MHS Robotics coordinator (FIRST Tech Challenge)
tdobson[at]monroviaschools.net
(626) 471-2800 Ext: 7243.

* PHOTO 72dpi: http://www.Send2Press.com/mediaboom/14-0227-monroviahs_400x300.jpg .
* Photo Caption: The Kings And Queens team members and coach.

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/Five-Queens-and-a-Robot-Win-Top-Honors-and-Head-to-Sacramento_2014-02-0227-005.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Monrovia High School Robotics Program :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2014 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.