LightSaders Robotics Take 2nd at Worlds (By Laura Duggan, Director of Marketing & Communications)

Just after taking home the Texas Association of Private & Parochial Schools (TAPPS) Robotics State Champion banner on April 2, St. Michael's LightSaders robotics team headed to Houston to compete at the 2022 FIRST® celebration of STEM among high school teams from all over the world at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Wednesday, April 20.
 
During the multiple-day event (known as “World’s”) which culminated on Sunday, April 24, FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) hosted more than 30,000 students, mentors/coaches, volunteers, sponsors, media, and supporters from around the world as hundreds of student robotics teams converged on the convention floor in their different arenas.
 
"It was a great opportunity to see how much more there is to robotics,” freshman Nash Dahl said about his first year at the event.
 
The LightSaders’ event, “FREIGHT FRENZY,” presented by Raytheon Technologies, kicked off last September and involved many successive competitions. The objective of FREIGHT FRENZY was for each team and its robot to navigate a complex transportation system by traversing barriers and racing against time to load and deliver essential items to those in need.
 
St. Michael’s robotics coach and instructor Mike Scallon attended the event with the team. “I'm proud of the effort and intelligence of this team. They really work well together and do their best to maximize all their talents. Just getting to the world championship each season is a real accomplishment in a region packed with world-caliber teams. I'm looking forward to MTI this June and another run at World’s next season,” Scallon said.
 
More than just building robots, FIRST Tech Challenge teams from grades 7-12 undertake to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. The LightSaders comprise a team of students from freshmen to seniors, each with their own job, in building an autonomous and driver-operated robot that performs a series of critical tasks.
 
“I enjoyed displaying my live strategy and decision-making skills,” junior Peter Williams said.
 
According to their website, “FIRST Tech Challenge students learn to think like engineers. Robots are built from a reusable platform, powered by Android technology, and can be coded using a variety of levels of Java-based programming.”
 
“It was a super, unforgettable, experience,” sophomore Davin Mortellaro said about his sixth year competing. “Programming has taught me to analyze a situation and use logic to reduce unnecessary factors.”

Click Read More to Continue
The LightSaders, Team 12928, and their robot “OFI” were allied with Team 11212, The Clueless, from San Diego, California, and Team 8644, The Brainstormers, from Lexington, Massachusetts. Together, they won the "Jemison" division in a four-match sweep. They went against the divisional champion alliance from the "Franklin" division for the final showdown, ultimately earning second place out of 168 teams competing. The LightSaders was the only team from Texas that made it to the grand championship at the competition.
 
Mentors also weighed in on their experience with this year’s program.
 
“Freight Frenzy has been the most difficult challenge yet with an overabundance of creative designs and ideas," software mentor Leroy Friesenhahn said of his seventh year at FIRST.
 
Hardware mentor David Pierce added, "Freight Frenzy has allowed for more careful consideration and creativity of the robot's design than ever before.”
The LightSaders are not resting on their laurels, however. They have accepted an invitation to the Maryland Tech Invitational (MTI) at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland in late June for FIRST® Tech Challenge teams from the region, nation, and around the world for another high-quality competitive tournament.
 
“I'm happy for our three seniors, and I'm encouraged by the legacy they will leave behind for the rest of the team going into next season. Our goals are to continue to develop our skills and work smart. This team is loaded with talent, and they have tremendous support from their mentors and the school administration. As long as we outwork the other talented teams we can stay in the fray,” Scallon said.
 
The LightSaders team would like to acknowledge Raytheon Technologies, Qualcomm, PTC, GoBilda, Get Spares, and JOSO Creative companies for sponsoring this valuable high school student engineering opportunity.
Back

List of 1 items.

  • We are a

    Family of Families