Woodinville Robotics Team wins ticket to FTC® World Championship Two teams from Swerve Robotics, a Woodinville-based 4-H robotics club, grabbed the spotlight at the recent Washington State FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) Championship by winning three highly sought after awards.

Amid cheering fans and loud rock music, the teams, Sigma and Alpha, competed alongside 22 top-ranked robotics teams from the Puget Sound region and two dynamic teams from Oregon. In the FTC robotics program, students design, build and program robots to compete head to head using a sports model. Teams face off during several qualification rounds to vie for the State Championship as well as for special judged awards.

This event showcased not only robot performance but also highlighted the design, engineering and creativity behind the robots through various displays and exhibits in the pit area.

In the end, Team Sigma won a chance to compete at the World Championship in St. Louis this coming April. 127 teams from 16 different countries will earn spots to compete at the World Championships. Sigma won second place for the Inspire Award. This formally judged award is presented to the team that best represents all aspects of the FTC program. The team is evaluated in the areas of robot performance, community outreach, engineering, and Gracious Professionalism®.

Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST. For the award, teams are judged based on their behavior and activities in the community. Adding another feather to their cap, Sigma also won the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, an award that honors the team that not only thinks outside the box, but also has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. This award recognizes an innovative and creative robot design solution to the game. Sigma was also a PTC Design Award finalist. Malavika Venkatesan, a Woodinville High School Junior and Sigma’s team captain, said, “The team is grateful for the opportunity to represent the state of Washington at the world competition and hopeful that we’ll continue to excel.”

Sigma’s sister team, Alpha, was awarded the coveted PTC Design Award. This judged award recognizes the design elements of the robot that are both functional and aesthetic. All successful robots have innovative design aspects; however, the PTC Design Award is presented to teams that incorporate industrial design elements into their solution. Alpha also persevered in the robot competition to place fifth overall in the qualification With their glittering bright pink fedora hats and neon yellow shirts, Sigma was truly an inspiration to all of the other teams.

Their screaming green fedoras, decorated with flashing LED lights, must have blinded the competition.

“The students from both teams have worked hard,” said Heidi Lovett, lead mentor and team coach. Other team members agreed that “the whole point of this is gracious professionalism,” noting the value of the mentoring, fundraising, engineering and other skills that they are learning along the way. “It’s pretty much like running a business,” commented another student.

About FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics programs take an exciting hands-on approach to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. Students apply real-world math and science concepts, develop problemsolving, organizational and team-building skills and qualify for over $16 million in college scholarships. Youth participants in FIRST programs total more than 300,000 across the globe. Learn more about FIRST at www.usfirst.org  For more information about the Washington FTC program, visit www.firstwa.org/ftc

Swerve Robotics club is a community-based club that serves students from kindergarten through high school aged students from Woodinville, Redmond, Snohomish, Duvall and Monroe areas. Swerve participates in the Washington State University’s 4-H Engineering and Technology Program, which is a youth development education program. Learn more about 4-H tech programs at http://snohomish.wsu.edu/4h/engineering.htm  We give back to our local community through outreach activities aimed at informing the public about FIRST robotics and its benefits to students. Students also mentor local FIRST LEGO League and Jr. FIRST LEGO League teams.

"Math and science skills are critical to our future in America,” notes Swerve Robotics sponsor Michael W. Boone, CFP®, CFA of MW Boone and Associates, LLC. He continues, “Robotics allows students to both learn and experience the application of these areas in a competitive team environment, which also teaches some of the best lessons from sports."

Help the Team get to the World Championship Swerve Robotics Club is absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the state of Washington at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis, flashing fedoras and all, but they need your help. The cost to send all of the team (and their robots) to the event will be more than $35,000.

Anyone interested in making a tax-deductible donation to Swerve Robotics can visit ttp://www.firstwa.org/Give.aspx. Please note “Swerve Robotics” in the comments box when you complete the form. To pay by check, please write your check to “Washington FIRST Robotics” and send to Heidi Lovett, 18606 201 st Ave NE, Woodinville, WA 98077. Note “Swerve Robotics” on the memo line. Your support is greatly appreciated. ROBOT DEMONSTRATIONS!