La Jolla, Mission Bay, Kearny, Lincoln, Henry, Crawford, San Diego and Scripps Ranch test their metal's mettle

Robotics teams from Scripps Ranch High and San Diego High made it to the quarterfinals in the recent FIRST regional robotics event, joining fellow San Diego Unified schools La Jolla, Mission Bay, Kearny, Lincoln, Henry and Crawford in the annual competition.

Madison students on the line.
More photos.

This year’s game, Ultimate Ascent, is played between two alliances of three teams each. Each alliance competes by trying to score as many flying discs into their goals as possible during the two-minute and 15-second match. Discs scored in higher goals score alliances more points. Matches end with robots attempting to climb up pyramids located near the middle of the field.

Other teams to receive awards included: La Jolla High, Regional Finalists #1; San Diego High, Highest Rookie Seed; and Madison High, Imagery Award in honor of Jack Kamen; and Volunteer of the Year to Cameron Dennis, one of the mentors for Madison’s team. Students from schools throughout San Diego County and southern California were joined by others from Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. More than 1,500 students were scheduled to participate.

Over a six-week time period, students work with professional engineering Mentors to design a robot that solves a problem using a Kit of Parts and a standard set of rules. Once these young inventors create the robot, their teams participate in regional competitions that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration, and the determination of students.

The students rely heavily on the concepts they are learning in their Project Lead The Way engineering courses. The teams work with adult mentors over a six week period to build, program and test their robots.  San Diego Regional FIRST Robotics Competition sponsors and volunteers come from some of the most highly regarded organizations in the area including Qualcomm, SAIC, Viasat and Teradata. Sponsors provide resources including time and talent from professional mentors, services, equipment, financial contributions and volunteers.

For more information on the robotics competition, visit the FIRST website.