Port PiraTech Team Still Working Hard, Prepping for Next Year

Editor's note: The following press release was submitted by students involved in the Port PiraTech Robotics program.

Five months ago, a group of about 40 Port Washington High School students and their mentors created the first Port PiraTech Robotics team, Team 4804. Almost immediately, a creative process began that carried through the entire grueling season of long hours and the challenges of building a robot from scratch.

The team was started by a couple of high school students talking to a staff member. Once the build season started the team had 6 weeks to build a robot.  The dedicated members of the team worked day and night, weekends and school days, to create the best robot they could for this year’s competition, Ultimate Ascent.

The team went to the Wisconsin Regional tournament where 57 teams competed, many with more experience, including the team that won the national championship last year. The Port PiraTech team showed resilience and determination when it became clear that the climbing mechanism (crucial for this year’s challenge) would not work. The team then converted their robot to a defense machine, using their climbing mechanism to block the Frisbee shots performed by other teams.

The adaptability and enthusiasm of the fledgling Port PiraTech Robotics Team was rewarded when the team won the Rookie Inspiration award at the regional competition.  The Rookie Inspiration Award was for outstanding community outreach and recruiting students to engineering.

Port PiraTech finished 47nd in the regional competition and planning is already underway for next year’s competition.  The team will be meeting once a week until school is done in June. The students are working on improving all aspects of the team. The team will be looking to recruit more mentors and students for next season starting in the fall.

The team would like to send out a most sincere thank you to all of the mentors and sponsors that helped make this team possible.  Without you, this team wouldn’t have had the successes that it did this year.  THANK YOU!

For more information on the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) go to http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc. For more information on the Port PiraTech team, visit the group's website: http://portpiratech.com.