Grapevine High School’s Mustang Robotics is advancing to compete at the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Regional Championship to be held Saturday, February 28, at Marcus High School.
The team earned their ticket with a third place finish at the FTC Winter Charger qualifying event held Saturday, December 13, where 32 teams competed. Only three teams advance to regionals.
In addition to their third place finish, Mustang Robotics was also awarded the Inspire Award, which recognizes the team that is an inspiration to other teams, acting with gracious professionalism both on and off the playing field. This team shares their experiences, enthusiasm, and knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community, and the judges.
For the competition, students are challenged to design, build, program and operate robots for head-to-head matches played in an alliance format, which means partnering with another team to face off against two other teams. The goal is to emphasize respectful competition.
FIRST, which stands For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is one of two UIL robotics divisions. The non-profit FIRST is the world’s leading youth robotics community, delivering youth robotics competitions that inspire innovation, build confidence, and prepare young people for life.
Two other GCISD teams also competed at the qualifying event.
The Fillie-Bots, an all-girls team from Grapevine High School, received the Judges’ Choice Award. This award is optional and not given at all FIRST Tech Challenge events. Judges may recognize a team with this award whose unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit recognition, but does not fit into any of the other award categories.
Additionally, Panther Robotics from Colleyville Heritage High School, won second place for the Think Award, presented to the team that is a top contender for many other judged awards and is a gracious competitor.
To learn more, visit the FIRST Robotics’ website.