William Floyd Robotics Receives Judges' Award at LI Regional Competition

LongIsland.com

The William Floyd Robotics Team #287 “Hurricane Floyd” made its presence felt at the SBPLI-LI Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition at Hofstra University this past weekend with a ...

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Hempstead, NY - March 31, 2015 - The William Floyd Robotics Team #287 “Hurricane Floyd” made its presence felt at the SBPLI-LI Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition at Hofstra University this past weekend with a fourth-place finish out of 51 teams and selection as the Judges’Award recipient for the quality of their robot, unique efforts, team enthusiasm, team dynamics and overall performance. This strong showing comes on the heels of their sixth-place finish at the New York Tech Valley competition at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.

This year’s theme was “Recycle Rush,” which focused on combining technology with environmental responsibility. According to FIRST, the game is played by two alliances of three robots each. Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter. In keeping with the recycling theme of the game, all game pieces used are reusable or recyclable.

According to Chris Ryon, co-advisor of William Floyd Robotics, drivers Matt Melero (captain) and Jason Rowe did an outstanding job maneuvering the robot in a crowded field as Cody Zayas scored points with accurate throws in an all-around team effort.

Robotics team advisors and mentors include Mr. Ryon, Joe Carpinone and James Carson, as well as Jack Fried a Research Engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Members of the team include: Christian Acevedo, Ezekiel Cambara, Matt DeAbreu, Randy St. Fleur, Will Fonseca, Ed Garner III, Kaitlyn Gorman, Huong Ho, Bingham Johnson, Kaylee LaSpisa, Matt Melero, Miguel Montes, Joseph Nappi, Taylor Pedersen, Jason Rowe, Brandon Tracey and Cody Zayas.

In addition to BNL, special thanks to Festo US Corporation for their support of William Floyd Robotics.

 

For additional photos, please follow this link to the William Floyd School District flickr page.

 

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