2006: Joshua

Our sixth year was one where we reached new horizons. We kicked off the year organizing and running a Lego League tournament for FIRST, in which twenty teams came to our school from around New York City with their “Ocean Odyssey” robots.

The 2006 game, “Aim High” required teams to shoot poof balls into a ten foot goal, as well as get them into low goals at the corners of the field. Our newest robot “Joshua” was designed so that brushes spiraled balls up a sheet metal ramp to a spinning flywheel, which sent the balls airborne. This spiral could also be reversed to release poof balls into the corner goals, and could act as a storage system, holding up to 26 balls.

We attended both the Hartford Regional and the New York City Regional. In New York City, Joshua pulled us up the rankings, and we were selected by the British Team, Systemetric (759), to join their alliance. Together with Team 421, we advanced to the finals!

Not only did we receive silver medals, but we set a team record for total trophies taken home, also winning the Best Website Award and the Creativity Award. The Creativity Award qualified us to submit a 25-page article describing the design and construction of Joshua, which was included in Rockport Publishing’s 2007 book FIRST Robotics, Behind the Design.