BG大游官网的机器人团队, 修士机器人3309小队, placed second and received the Finalist Award trophy at the Beach Blitz 2021 off-season competition in Aliso Viejo, 11月在加州. 7. The Friarbots competed against 33 of the western region’s best robotics teams from 加州 and Idaho, said BG大游官网 机器人 Coordinator and Lead Mentor Evan Smith. 

The Friarbots spent most of their summer and fall semester designing, 捏造, and building a new robot specifically for this year’s event held at Aliso Niguel High School. 机器人, 它有3英尺高，125磅重, was completed with little time to spare and left the team with only one day for programming and driving practice before competition, 史密斯说. 

This year’s objective at Beach Blitz was to shoot several dodgeballs eight feet high and to hang on a bar to raise the robot off the ground at the end of the match, Minseung“Nathan”Kim说, BG大游官网 12th-grader and engineering president of Team 3309. “We had to practice and smooth out some issues during the actual competition. 但是到最后, we had fixed all of the problems in the robot and it performed reliably,” said BG大游官网 12th-grader and Team 3309 member Nathan Barfield.   

在获得总排名第二之后, 金说, “I feel that the hundreds of hours that we spent on the robot was worth it. I gained a lot of confidence that we can do well if we put in a big effort.”

The Friarbots were established in 2009 to help expand BG大游官网’s math and science programs and to give students opportunities to explore their personal strengths and potential career paths. BG大游官网 机器人 is an ideal example of BG大游官网’s holistic formation process, which focuses on the development of the whole self in each student in all aspects of his high school experience. 

“The process of building a robot and competing helped me realize who I am and what I can do to help others. 机器人 is the biggest reason why I chose engineering as my future career. 机器人 provided real-life engineering experiences that high school students don’t always get. I’ve learned innovative thinking and problem-solving that could be used not only in college but in my future job,金说. 

Team 3309 has co-hosted Beach Blitz with three other teams since 2016 and welcomes more than 40 teams and 30 volunteers each year. Friarbots赢得了2016年的海滩闪电战, and won the Gracious Professionalism award at Beach Blitz 2017. After a remote competition in 2020 due to Covid-19, the Friarbots are most excited about competing in person again, 史密斯说. 

For more news and information about 修士机器人3309小队, visit www.team3309.org.