2019 – Destination Deep Space!
The Groton-Dunstable Regional High School FIRST Robotics team, known as “The Robotomies” is proud to have achieved another second place finish during this past weekend’s Southern New Hampshire Event held in Bedford, NH, March 15-17.
In a deja-vu performance, the team dealt with minor technical issues while utilizing other components of the robot during matches and proving themselves to be a strong potential asset. The team put on an impressive showing of defensive capabilities and was noticed by the 2nd and 5th seed teams as having denied the most number of points while playing defense. The three-team alliance played undefeated throughout the quarter and semifinals and nearly overcame the favored first seed alliance in a rare 4-game tournament. The team’s alliance played the first game to a perfect 77-77 tie, won the next 72-60, lost the next 83-69, and finally fell to the other alliance 63-50 when one of the Robotomies’ teammates’ robot was significantly damaged after a collision during competition. The unfortunate turn of events may very well have made the difference in the final score, but such is the nature of FIRST competitions, and the students are thrilled to have brought home yet another trophy.
Due to the excellent performance of the team, they are hopeful to qualify for the New England District Championships to be held at WPI, April 10-13. Final ranking will not be known for a couple more weeks as additional competitions still need to be played. In order to join this competition, the team must raise additional funds to pay for the $4000 registration fee. With so little time to raise money, all donations are greatly appreciated.
The Robotomies is made up of approximately 30 students and 10 mentors. They are fully supported by the generous donations of many of our parents and businesses including L3 Advanced Programs, IBM, Raytheon, The Groton-Dunstable Education Foundation, Society of American Military Engineers, the Justin J. Maynard Memorial STEM Innovation Scholarship, The Ted Lapres and Connie Keeran Fund, 4C Test Systems, and SolidWorks. For more information or to support the team, please contact faculty advisor Mark Rocheleau at mrocheleau@gdrsd.org.
