Orchard Park Robotics Team Part of Alliance that Finishes Third in Worlds
Photo courtesy of Robert Wells Studio
The outstanding Orchard Park robotics squad Team 2056 competed with 406 teams from around the world in St. Louis last month, finishing third and just out of the finals.
The FIRST® Robotics Competition Championship adds to the thrill of live sports to the world of science and technology, giving each team strict rules and limited resources to design, build and program robots to complete tasks better than competitors. This year, more than 83,000 students on 3,336 teams from 25 countries competed.
In the St. Louis contest in late April, OP went 7-3 and was ranked number 1 by the end of day one. The team then selected Team 1241 (Mississauga), Team 384 (Richmond, Virginia) and Team 1511 (Penfield, New York) – forming an alliance that won their division.
But in the semi-finals where six division winners face off, they went 3 and 2 and were short on points to make the finals. The 2056 alliance finished third at the St. Louis Championship with an incredible performance and great success.
Lead teacher and team founder Stan Hunter congratulated the team for “continuing to celebrate excellence and exceptional performance on all levels” and noted the perseverance and composure under pressure by the drive team Sam Holmes, Caleb Mech, Jacob Muchynski, Joel Pink and Tyler Holtzman.
Team 2056’s 40 or so members design and manufacture each year’s robot, by dividing into committees to handle engineering, programming, manufacturing, marketing, scouting, and fundraising. The team has won 26 of 28 regional and district events since its inception and has travelled to the World Championship every year.
The team receives funding from HWDSB, CNC Woodcraft, Gridpath Solutions, Winona Men’s Club, Jantz Canada, Westbrook Greenhouse Systems, Stoney Creek Rotary Club, North America Traffic, IFI, GM, Hatch, Barlow Manufacturing and others.
Updated on Thursday, May 11, 2017.