By Kate Thibodeau | Grants Administrator
The 2014 season was a banner year for Franklin High School (FHS) team xbot. Twenty five students from Seattle’s inner city school Franklin High School met Tuesday/Thursday evenings & Saturdays designing, prototyping, building, and programming a 120 pound robot in just 6 and a half weeks. This year’s robot featured a dual collection/catapult robot named "Pegasus" to pick up 25" balls and toss into a goal 9' off the ground. FHS team xbot district/match wins & awards secured a spot at the WA/OR Regional Championship in Portland OR (top 64 teams in WA/OR). FHS returned as the Semi-Finalist and was awarded the coveted Rockwell Automation Innovation in Control Award. The robot operator directed the joy stick to the ball and the closest collector arm would engage to capture the ball (no human decision selecting the right or left collector)
Franklin High School team xbot ranked #7 of 153 teams in WA and OR and qualified for the World Championship in St. Louis, MO.
A total of 18 students attended Nationals. FHS team xbot returned from St. Louis as the semi-finalist for the Galileo Division. Three (3) prestigious awards are the given by the event judges who speak only to the students regarding the journey designing, building and programming the competition robot. FHS team earned :
1. Glacier Peak: Delphi - Excellence in Engineering Award - also WINNER of the event
2. Shorewood: General Motors- Industrial Design Award
3. PNW Championship: Rockwell Automation - Innovation in Control Award
Thank You for your support which assisted twenty five students to attend the WA/OR Regional Championship. These students are the role models for the SE Seattle students and the PNW robotics teams. One could hear at the Portland, OR event “What time is it?” with a thunderous response “488!” (488 is the team number) that preceded the robot team on the competition field. Even thought the season ended, the team and students are planning for next year’s robot challenge.
By Kate Thibodeau | Development Director
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