Students in Loyola High School’s FIRST Robotics Team, 3408, have spent a significant portion of their year building and refining their robot, putting in hours many other students would not. By the end of the season, their time investment has paid off, and the team managed to earned a spot in the California State Championship, also taking home the Quality Award.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international organization that organizes robotics competitions for high school students. Each season, teams design and build a robot made to compete in a game with a new set of rules and challenges, this season’s being Rebuilt. Loyola’s team, FRC 3408, is made up of around 50 students and coached by Robert Yaccarino, a former engineer at Raytheon. The team competed in two qualifying district competitions before eventually advancing to the exclusive state championship.
At the first qualifying event, the Los Angeles District Competition, the team ran into technical problems that their competitors were unable to take advantage of, Issues that had not been addressed and allowed for teams to take advantage of.
However, going into the second competition, the Orange County District Competition, the team made adjustments to thier robot based on what they learned previously. The changes made a difference; at the second competition, the team managed to stay in the top 10 rankings and recorded the highest team point score of the competition, earning them a spot in the FRC California State Championship.
“We changed a lot and learned from our mistakes. This helped a lot and we, [students on the robotics team], were all really eager to compete in the State Championship, as not many teams were invited over.” Waimrin said.
At the state championship, the LHS team competed well against a strong group of California’s best. While the team did not advance to the World Championship, they were able to place above roughly 200 other strong teams in all of California.
Team 3408 was recognized with a Quality Award during the season. The Quality Award, issued by FIRST itself, awards robot strength in design and construction, and the team that exemplifies strong construction and engineering. For a team that spent months working on every detail of their robot, the recognition carries tremendous weight.
“This was the first time our team won an award, and it’s really important to all of us because these types of awards are hard to get, and receiving one proves all the work we put in over the year,” Waimrin said.
After the interview, Dylan mentioned that as many senior leaders at the Robotics Club are departing for college, new leadership positions are opening, a potential incentive for students looking to strengthen their application.
This was one of Team 3408’s strongest seasons in recent history. The team placed very high in the California rankings, recorded the highest team score at their second event, competed at the State Championship and were recognized with the Quality Award, a level of success that the team has not seen in years.
For students at Loyola looking to get involved, the Robotics Club stands out as one of the best ways to build a college application, while simultaneously being part of something that produces serious results and new skills.
