Team 766, M-A’s robotics team, has had a phenomenal year spearheading new projects and winning various accolades at competitions.
The team competes in the annual FIRST Robotics Competition each year, where they construct a robot that is able to perform a task specific to that year in a race against another team’s robot. Each team is responsible for building, programming, and advertising their own robot.
In the fall, Team 766 attended the Silicon Valley Regional, earning the Engineering Inspiration award for the first time for the first time in 10 years. The award recognizes a team that makes a noticeable impact in their local community—the team likely received it as a result of acting as mentors at local local programs such as Mechanical M-Ayhem and FIRST LEGO League. This award granted the team a spot at the national robotics competition in Houston.
Following this success, the team attended competitions in San Diego and Berkeley, winning an Excellence in Engineering award at the latter. The award, one of the most renowned technical robotics awards, acknowledged the team for their notable dedication to the design of their robot.
“This was the first time in over 10 years that we won the Engineering Inspiration award, so it was a pretty big deal for us,” junior and Computer Vision Initiative Manager Max Spier said. “It is one of the highest technical awards we can win, so that was a huge highlight of the year.”
This success can be attributed to the team’s hard work and months of preparation. Prior to the start of the season, Team 766 reached out to prospective sponsors and community members. They visited local middle schools to recruit future M-A students and presented at the the San Mateo County Fair to spread awareness to the local community.
The team was supported this year by a substantial collection of sponsors such as Lockheed Martin and the Intuitive Foundation.
This was the first year the team was able to facilitate a mentorship program through the FIRST LEGO League. 10 team members from Team 766 organized robotics activities for local elementary and middle school students, providing them with hands-on experience building robots out of LEGOS.
“Instead of building a massive robot made out of metal, we taught them how to make little robots out of Legos. It was a really fun experience,” senior Heidi Chen said. “This was the first time that our team had enough bandwidth and enough mentors and students interested.”
The mentorship program not only impacts the kids, but the mentors as well. Chen was awarded the FLL mentor award after a glowing review from one of her mentees. “It was such an honor to know how much my time pays off,” Chen said.
Team 766 also continued organizing a program called Mechanical M-Ayhem. Mechanical M-Ayhem is an opportunity for rookie robotics members to get competition experience before the season is in full swing. This past year, the team hosted a competition that allowed 16 rookie teams from schools across the area to build and test their creations in a competition-like environment.
For Mechanical M-Ayhem, the rookie teams would build smaller-scale robots to compete. This allowed the teams to hone their manufacturing skills and electrical knowledge ahead of competition season. “I think it’s a really good opportunity for a lot of students at M-A to get more experience in this field. It’s unique for us to offer rookies this type of hands-on competition,” Spier said.
Also, the team has supported fellow FRC teams by creating an app bearTracks, which allows teams to input their robot’s specific capabilities. Through the information offered from each team, other teams can gain an understanding of other robots’ abilities. “It definitely helped teams get a little boost so they’re not falling behind these other massive teams that have the bandwidth to track other robots and get tons of data,” Chen said.
Team 766 members hope to expand their programs’ reach, and to foster a love for robotics among the M-A community.
“I just hope that the team is able to keep this momentum going. This was definitely a stellar year, with our three awards, which just show how far the team has grown, both technically and non-technically,” Chen said. “I really hope they are able to keep the spirit of the robotics team alive next school year.”
