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Schools

Schreiber Students Try To Be FIRST In Robotics

Long Island students constructed robots to compete in regional robotics contest at Hofstra; winners advanced to national championship in Atlanta.

March madness lives on Long Island, though it's not what you think.

Instead of local colleges, area high schools are doing battle. The competitors? Each one different in its own way, bringing a unique set of skills to the game. But we are not talking about basketball stars; this event is more than meets the eye. We're talking robots.

Forty-eight high schools from across Long Island, including Schreiber, converged at Hofstra last week to take part in the L.I. Regional FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). The mission: design a robot over a six-week timeframe to effectively compete in "Breakaway," a soccer-like game held on a 27- by 54-foot field.

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Each team was sent a kit of parts prior to the competition, and from there the students and their advisers put their plan into action. While the aim is to score goals for points, there are hills to climb, tunnels to go through, and extra points are awarded if a robot is able to hang above the field by extending a mechanical arm onto a tower toward the end of the match.

"The whole idea is to be able to strategize with the different teams, so you can take the best of what everyone can do, and hopefully capitalize on it," Schreiber High School's robotics team adviser Don Schaefer said of the game which includes alliances with other schools.

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Schaefer said this competition can be a stepping stone for the engineers of tomorrow.

"The U.S. is in deep trouble if we can't manufacture products, all our manufacturing has gone out to [other countries]," he said. "We can no longer produce anything, therefore we'd better be on the engineering end of it."

FIRST was founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. FIRST students who participate in the competition may apply for over $12 million in scholarships. This year's FRC will reach more than 45,000 students from more than 1,800 teams worldwide.

To help in the programming of their robot, the Schreiber Viking robotics team enlisted the aid of Hofstra senior Tony Budinic. A Schreiber grad, he relishes the chance to mentor the team he was once a proud part of.

"It was a great experience, I decided that I would come back and help every year," Budinic said.

Awards were handed out not only for the Breakaway contest, but for originality, design, and, most notably, team spirit. Schreiber came in ninth place overall and received the "Quality Award" for its performance at the competition. The Sachem, Bay Shore and Hauppauge teams placed in the top three in this regional competition to advance to the FRC Championship next month in Atlanta.

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