Leland High team aces international robotics contest – The Mercury News

Leland High Schools robotics teamis used to winning, but its high ranking at the FIRST Championship onApril 19-22 in Houston was a first for any San Jose Unified School District campus.

The team, called Team 604 Quixilver, is savoring a successful season just capped off by its first-ever division championship, after having competed many times before in the four-day international contest.

We had a fantastic time this season, said team president Rayne Mehta. When we came into the season, we said, Alright, we want to rank in the top eight at a regional.

Team members exceeded their own expectations with a third-place ranking in both of their regional competitions and fourth overall at the FIRST Championship. For their division win, they beat out about 60 other teams from around the world in numerous timed rounds.

That was fantastic because wed never reached that height before in all of our years as a team, Mehta said.

About 24 students traveled to Houston for the event, arriving there behind their robot Frankensteina mashup of models from previous years that had been shipped out in a crate a couple of weeks earlier. Starting early this year, the students spent six weeks working on their new robot. They met most days after school for a couple of hours, and sometimes spent whole weekends building together. After that period, they were not allowed to make any modifications except for repairs.

Some of the teams leaders didnt think they were smart enough to build a robot. One of them was Hannah Park, who joined the team three years ago and today is its strategy lead and project manager.

My impression of robotics at the time was that only MIT-bound world class math geniuses could do it and that it wasnt accessible to everyone, Park said. I really didnt want to do it for those reasons.

Helen Arrington, a founding member of Team 604 who also used to teach engineering and design, called the teams achievement exciting and exhilarating. She said shes proud of the team not only because it excels in building robots but also because its so inclusive.

Its not all about winning, Arrington said in an interview. I just tell the kids, As long as youre having fun.

The social aspect played a big part in Parks decision to finally join, after being prodded for several months by Mehta and two other friends.

OK, its three people, might as well give it a shot now, she said, adding that she ended up totally throwing all of my energy and time into it.

That time and energy has paid off, but team members arent resting. Aftermaking the rounds at Maker Faire in San Mateo later this month, the teams plans for this summer include conducting demonstrations for sponsors and figuring out a robot design that has been eluding them for years. Failure is a frustrating and expected part of the design process, but Park said the payoff is always worthwhile.

Half of it is going through the prototypes and you see what doesnt work, Park said. When you figure out what does and succeed in competition, it is very, very rewarding to have something that you designed from the start, that was your brainchild, and see it come to life on the field.

Link:

Leland High team aces international robotics contest - The Mercury News