Robot's Invade the Palace

Fifteen teams from five states descended upon the Mount Michael Gym, "The Palace", on Saturday despite less than favorable weather forecasts to compete in the Inaugural Mount Michael FVC Midwest Regional Championship Tournament.

The robotics competition was the culmination of challenging work for students which began in September. The students used the Vex Robotics Design System consisting of metal parts for a chassis, sensors, motors, a transmitter/receiver, and gears to construct and program a fully programmable robot capable of competing in the Challenge. The Challenge gives students an opportunity to brainstorm, design, build, and test their robotic designs. Finally, teams keep an Engineering Notebook, tracking their progress and showing them the beginning principles of the engineering design process.

On hand for the event was Amanda Morrison, FVC Program Coordinator. “I think the event was well organized and the number of volunteers participating was very impressive. This inaugural event was an excellent showing for the State of Nebraska. Having local businesses and individuals as sponsors shows their commitment to students and learning. The number of educational partners and business professionals serving as judges and referees brought a great deal of credibility to the event. The number of students inspired by this competition is why FVC promotes these events. I hope we will be able to continue to bring this event to Nebraska.”

FVC promotes not only the science and technical sides of robotics, it promotes the concept of gracious professionalism and teams win by being strong leaders at home, in school and in their community, and learn the importance of demonstrating respect for themselves and others.

Sponsors for the event included: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc., Oriental Trading Company, Old Chicago Restaurants, James Hardie, Mount Michael Booster Club, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Coast to Coast Signal Engineering, Julianne and David Svingen, and Kathy and Rocky (MM Class of ’82) Snawerdt. Educational Partners included: the Omaha Children’s Museum, Peter Kiewit Institute, UNL College of Engineering, Creighton University, UNO, the Scott Technology Center, Doane College, Mount Michael Benedictine, and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. In addition, judges and referees were from Union Pacific Railroad, HDR, Lamp, Rynearson and Associates, OPPD and United States Strategic Command.

According to Bud Synhorst, Executive Director of Development at Mount Michael, “we are proud of all of the teams and students. They all did an excellent job and should be proud of their accomplishments. There were many volunteers who have been committing so much of their time over the past several weeks to make this event happen and we cannot thank them enough for their hard work and dedication.”

Awards presented for the competition are as follows:

FIRST Vex Challenge Think Award – “GIR” – from Mercy High School – from Omaha, NE.
This award is given to the team the judges feel best reflects the “journey” the team took as they traveled through the engineering design process during the build season. The Engineering Notebook is the key reference for judges to help identify the most deserving team. Items of interest to judges for this award include the design steps, brainstorming highlights, designs, re-designs, successes, and how problems were addressed during those “those interesting moments” when things were not going as planned.

FIRST Vex Challenge Connect Award – Wired Wolves – from Batavia Robotics Club, Batavia, IL.
This award is given to the team the judges feel has best connected with their local community and the engineering community. The best team is more then the sum of its parts. A well-run team recognizes that their community plays a part in their success. In addition, the team that wins this award is aggressively seeking engineers and exploring the opportunities available in the world of engineering, science, and technology.
FIRST Vex Challenge Amaze Award – TechnoBeasts – Chariot Christian Schools – Broomfield, CO.
This award is given to the team that defies any award category.

FIRST Vex Challenge Innovate Award – Sasquatch from Crete High School, Crete, NE.
The FIRST Vex Challenge Innovate Award celebrates a team that not only thinks outside the box, but also has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. Inspired by longtime FIRST corporate sponsor Innovation First, Inc., this award is given to the team that the judges feel has the most innovative and creative robot design solution to the FIRST Vex Challenge to any and/or all specific field elements or components. Elements of this award include elegant design, robustness and “out of the box” thinking related to design.

FIRST Vex Challenge Tournament Runner-Up Alliance – Two Mount Michael teams (Papa Smurf and Officious Martinets) formed an alliance in the elimination rounds to finish as the runners-up for the 2006-2007 FVC Midwest Regional Championship Tournament. This alliance began the elimination matches as the first seed after great qualifying matches.

FIRST Vex Challenge Tournament Winning Alliance – Teams from Mercy High School (“GIR”) and Crete High School (Sasquatch) formed a winning alliance to move through the elimination rounds and defeating the runners-up in two of three head to head matches. This alliance came into the elimination matches as the second seed and came back from a 1-0 deficit to win the final two matches in the elimination challenge. For their victory, both “GIR” and Sasquatch earn an opportunity to attend the national competition in Atlanta, Georgia, April 12 – 15.

FIRST Vex Challenge Tournament Inspire Award – BAPHLE from Mount Michael Benedictine School
This award is given to the team that is recognized by both the judges and team peers as the team that best exemplifies all components of the FIRST Vex Challenge philosophy. The team that is honored with this award performs well in all judging categories and impresses other teams as the team that best exemplifies a role model in the FVC program. This team demonstrates respect and gracious professionalism both for team members and fellow teams, has good communication and team work skills within the team as well as with their alliances, communicates clearly about their impressive robot design, and consistently perform well during their matches. The winner of the Inspire Award is invited to attend the Championship Event in Atlanta, Georgia, where they will compete with others who have also served to benefit their home, school, and community..

To learn more about Robotics: CHECKOUT THE ROBOTICS HOMEPAGE THE LINK IS FOUND ON THE MM HOMEPAGE