The Resource March 2014 Volume 1 Issue 003 | Page 23

Continued from page 22

high the robot climbed. At the FRC
Las Vegas Regional Competition, Doran was the first driver at
the tournament to get their robot
to climb to the top of the pyramid
and dump bonus disks. As a result, their team was able to secure
bonus points which helped them
advance to the semi-final round.
As Lead Driver, Doran had to earn
this key position prior to competition time by posting the shortest
test time to maneuver the robot in
various situations.

Although the team did not
earn another opportunity to compete at the FRC Championship in
St. Louis in 2013, this year Doran
hopes to changed that and return
to St. Louis to compete in his senior year. During the off-season,
he watched and analyzed other
team competitions to help him fine
tune his driving strategy.

As a part of Robotics, each
team is given six weeks to design,
build, program, and test their robots. Every year FRC changes
the type of game the robots must

compete. In 2012, it was “Rebound Rumble” where the robot
had to shoot basketballs for various points depending on the level
of the targets. In addition, the robot had to balance on a bridge for
bonus points. In 2013, the game
was “Ultimate Ascend.” This year,
the robot has been built to compete in the game “Aerial Assist.”
The game consists of an alliance
of three teams competing against
three opposing teams where the
robots score by making as many
goals with large balls in a two-minute and 30-second match. The
teams can earn additional points
by passing and catching balls and
scoring goals (assist). It takes a
lot of collaboration, team work
between team members, clear
communication, and prioritizing
tasks to bring a robot to life. Not
to mention, it takes disciple to stay
on tasks and in good standing with
their other classes to be an active
member. And the students would
not be thriving without support,
encouragement, and the time and
energy of their family,