THORNDALE >> FIRST Tech Challenge Team 7244 Out of the Box Robotics, from Thorndale, advanced to the FTC East Super-Regional Championship Tournament.
The FIRST Tech Challenge is a robotics competition in which teams design, build and program their robots to compete as alliances against other teams.
The local team competed against 35 other teams in the Pennsylvania State Championships at Millersville University on Feb. 28. Out of the Box Robotics won the Inspire Award from the FIRST Tech Challenge.
According to the First Tech Challenge website, www.usfirst.org, this award is given to a team that “serves as an inspiration to what this program, and the young minds involved, can accomplish.” It states that the criteria for this award are based on the match performance, the team’s engineering notebook and what the judges observed during interviews with the team.
The team is competing in the regional portion, which began March 19 and runs through March 21 at the University of Scranton in Scranton.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a non-profit organization devoted to helping youths to discover and develop a passion for science, engineering, technology, and math. According to its website, www.usfirst.org, the program engages them to build science, engineering and technology skills, that “inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.”
The First Tech Challenge was offered to students in grades seventh through 12th.
Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, the 2014-2015 FIRST season attracted more than 400,000 youths and more than 130,000 mentors, coaches, and volunteers from more than 80 countries, according to organizers.
Team 7244 is comprised of eight members representing six different high schools in Chester County. They are coached by David and Rita Wall, Gerald Beauchamp and William Barker. The coaches said that the youths work as a unit and they demonstrate success in accomplishing the task of creating a competitive robot and reaching out to their community.
The coaches said one factor in the success of the team was their community outreach. They worked with Jim Cook of the Mushroom Bowl Hobbies and R/C Raceway to motorize the Uwchlan Ambulance Corps’ Teddy Bear Hospital Ambulance.
Out of the Box Robotics is currently collecting teddy bear donations for this exemplary cause that teaches the community how to use the 911 Emergency Response System.
FTC7244-Out of the Box Robotics thanked the following organizations for their donations and support: Minds in Gear Robotics, Rajant Corp, Hillside Manufacturing, Lockheed Martin, Solidworks, DePuySynthes, Coca-Cola, Denron Signs, N-Tech Fire Systems, Engineered Automation Components, BCS Motion, Phoenix Contact, Total Rental, ProSigns, Tableau Software, Hatt’s True Value, Attwood Marine and the parents of the team members.
To learn more about Out of the Box Robotics or to contribute to FTC7244, contact the team at ftc7244@gmail.com.
