On March 22, 23, and 24 FHSD’s robotics team, 1288: Raven Robotics, competed in the First Robotics competition at the Chaifez Arena. Along with other robotics teams from around Missouri,  the Raven Robotics competed for a chance to go to Nationals.

“Our robot is in the top five for balancing on the bridge and shooting baskets,” president Aaron Harmon said. “But it doesn’t show in the rankings cause the overall rankings are based off of the qualification score and cooperation points.”

In the end, Raven robotics won Best Quality for their robot out of 43 teams. They were also part of the runner-up team consisting of 1208: Metool Brigade and 2783: Engineers of Tomorrow.

“This better than the robotics team has done for years,” primary shooter Jacob Gordon said. “It’s exciting to have everyone watching you to see what will happen. I was proud that we were competing against the best of the best and made it to finals.”

The competition worked a bit like a basketball game. Each round contained two “basketball teams” consisting of three robots each. The robots earned points by shooting baskets: three points for the top basket, two for the middle, and one for the bottom. The robots could also earn points by working together to make a “bridge” balance. The bridges were teeter-totters set up in the center of the court. Teams could earn between 10 to 40 points by making the bridge balance.

“[I enjoyed] the atmosphere and playing the game,” lead programmer Matthew Wedewer said. “We had a good time.”

The team worked on their robot for six weeks before the competition. They built it from a starter kit and commercially available materials, programmed it with LabVIEW and Xbox Kinect, and practiced with old robots before the competition.

“I’ve gotten so much better at my mechanical skills,” Harmon said. “I’m actively learning, and I’m able to teach other people stuff too.”

Although the team did not qualify for nationals, it is looking forward to competing again next year. “I’m most looking forward to finding out what the new challenge will be and how to solve it,” Gordon said. “I can’t wait to get started.”
Qualifying Matches RAVEN 1288 <http://youtu.be/wgSCpMgwnl8>

Quarter Final Matches RAVEN 1288 <http://youtu.be/obVmSLv3918>

Semi- Final Matches RAVEN 1288 <http://youtu.be/ai09AYN6XYY>

Finals Matches RAVEN 1288 <http://youtu.be/pONRdxu2sdI>