PALMDALE – The award-winning Gryffingear Robotics Team of The Palmdale Aerospace Academy will be battling for a winning title in a competition later this month. Representing Palmdale at the Southern California Regional Robotics Forum’s annual off-season FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC), The Academy’s “Basilisk” and “Golden Snitch” will each be competing among 34 other teams. The Academy will be only one of two teams with two robots contending for the title on September 27 and 28 at Valencia High School in Placentia.
Brian Martin, Robotics Advisor and teacher at The Palmdale Aerospace Academy noted that the Gryffingear team has put in many off-season hours to re-build the practice bots to get ready for these competitions. They have participated in a number of robotics events among some of the top teams in the nation.
In a real testament to robot combat in the 21st Century, 36 android competitors will participate in the 2014 FRC game challenge, Aerial Assist. Aerial Assist is played by two competing teams of three robots each in a 25’ x 54’ arena. Controllers must maneuver the robot to launch oversized bouncy balls in their team goal throughout a two and a half minute match. The more teams (or Alliances) score goals, the more points they receive.
“It’s been incredible seeing the students take what they learn in the classroom and bring their visions to life. We see them exceeding our expectations every day and their determination to compete with robots that they’ve created is very rewarding,” stated Matthew Winheim, Assistant Headmaster of The Palmdale Aerospace Academy.
The mission of the Fall Classic is to expand the awareness of the FIRST Robotics Competition to students, teachers, sponsors and mentors from all across Southern California. School clubs, like The Palmdale Aerospace Academy’s Gryffingear Robotics Team, are given the chance to vie for the honor of a championship with their homemade robots.
This year’s off-season FIRST® Robotics Competition takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28 at Valencia High School’s gymnasium, located at 500 Bradford Avenue in Placentia. The event is free and open to the public.
The Southern California Regional Robotics Forum is a division of Los Angeles Robotics, a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation.
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