Area students are charging up for the annual SBPLI Long Island Regional FIRST® Robotics Competition, which this year will be held in a double-header style, with tournaments taking place April 9 to 11 and April 12 to 14. Presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) at Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex, these back-to-back regionals will feature nearly 80 teams from across Long Island (full list noted below), as well as visiting teams from throughout New York, the United States, Turkey, Croatia and China. These students, aged 14 to 18, will utilized 120-pound robots to competing in alliance-style tournament rounds under this year’s challenge, dubbed FIRST POWER UPSM.

 

Now in its 19th season, the SBPLI Long Island Regional features teams of high school-aged students from across Long Island, the New York metropolitan area and even around the world competing in a cooperative tournament-style robotics competition. Guided by their mentors, students rely on their skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to compete for honors and recognition that reward design excellence, competitive play and sportsmanship. This high-energy event further emphasizes the importance of high-impact partnerships between students, universities, businesses and communities.

 

Described by FIRST as a competition that “finds teams trapped in an eight-bit video game” in which “teams use power cubes to defeat the boss,” FIRST POWER UP is a nod to the gaming world of yesteryear. During the competition, two 3-team alliances will take to the playing field to complete a variety of tasks in order to score points and win the round, with the hopes of eventually advancing to eliminations and finals. Among the major tasks to earn points are the robots’ ability to deliver power cubes to the alliance vault in an effort to earn power ups, gaining ‘ownership’ of a scale or switch (harkening to a ‘king of the hill’ game), and climbing the scale in order to face the ‘boss.’

 

As with all FIRST Robotics Competitions, FIRST POWER UP will begin with a 15-second autonomous period, during which robots may only operate on pre-programmed instructions to reach the baseline or gain ownership of the scale. Throughout the remaining two minutes and 15 seconds, students will control the team robots to accomplish the aforementioned tasks of the challenge. Detailed instructions for each of these tasks are available in the official FIRST POWER UP Overview and a visual description can be found in this animated video from FIRST.

 

“The SBPLI Long Island Regional is an amazing way for students to showcase their talents in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields,” says Larry Toonkel, newly appointed Co-Director, FIRST Robotics Competition, SBPLI/FIRST Long Island. “We are very excited to see what all our Long Island teams will bring to the table, and we look forward to hosting teams from across the state, country and even the world at each of our tournaments this year.”

 

“We are certain that these dual events will provide an even greater level of exhilaration for participating teams and gives our local teams an added opportunity to advance to the Championships” adds Bertram Dittmar, Executive Director, SBPLI/FIRST Long Island. “With an increasing number of Long Island FIRST Robotics Competition teams joining each year, we are already starting to plan our approach for continued double events in our region. But, in order to accomplish this goal, we’ll need the continued support of our valued schools, families, volunteers and donors.”

 

SBPLI/FIRST Long Island is the title sponsor of the SBPLI Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. Captain of Innovation-level sponsors include altice USA, BAE Systems, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, FESTO Corporation, Hofstra University, Mancuso Charitable Trust, National Grid, Northrop Grumman, New York State Department of Education, Oerlikon metoc, PSEG Long Island, Schenck Trebel Corporation, School Construction Consultants, SCOPE Education Services, Stony Brook University Foundation, Telephonics and the US Army Recruitment Battalion - NYC. Friend of the Future-level sponsors include accessLinx, Inc.; Brookhaven NSA; Robert Catell; The Dittmar Family; EJCLI (Engineers Joint Committee of Long Island); Farmingdale Sate College; IEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers); Ingerman Smith, LLP; LG Management, LLC; North Atlantic Industries; Spectrum Design Foundation; and the Stern Family.

 

The list of teams participating in the 2018 SBPLI Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition #1 (April 9-11), is as follows:

 

Team No.

Team Name

School/Organization

Hometown

28

Pierson Whalers

Pierson Middle/High School

Sag Harbor

296

Northern Knights

Loyola High School & Sacred Heart School

Montréal, QC, Canada

352

The Green Machine

Carle Place Middle/High School

Carle Place

358

Robotic Eagles

Hauppauge High School

Hauppauge

514

Miller Place Robotics

Miller Place High School

Miller Place

522

Robo Wizards

Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical High School

Staten Island

533

The PSIcotics

Lindenhurst Senior High School

Lindenhurst

564

Longwood Robotics

Longwood High School

Middle Island

569

Rambots

East Meadow Kiwanis & Home School

Westbury

709

Femme Tech Fatale

Agnes Irwin School

Bryn Mawr, PA

871

Robotechs

West Islip Senior High School

West Islip

1468

Hicksville J-Birds

Hicksville High School

Hicksville

1546

Chaos, Inc.

Baldwin Senior High School

Baldwin

1803

Vikings

Paul D. Schreiber Senior High School

Port Washington

2027

Robotic Dragons

Westbury High School

Old Westbury

2161

Robocats

Walt Whitman High School

Huntington Station

2234

Alternating Current

The Episcopal Academy

Newtown Square, PA

2347

Metal Mercs

Walter G. O’Connell High School

Copiague

2638

Rebels

Great Neck South High School

Great Neck

2869

Regal Eagles

Bethpage Senior High School

Bethpage

2872

CyberCats

Wheatley School

Old Westbury

2914

Tiger Pride

Woodrow Wilson High School

Washington, DC

3137

T-Birds

Connetquot High School

Bohemia

3624

ThunderColts

Half Hollow Hills High School (East & West)

Huntington Station

3646

Integra

Bahcesehir High School for Science and Technology

Istanbul, Turkey

5016

Huntington Robotics

Huntington High School

Huntington

5099

Tigers

Northport Senior High School

Northport

5659

Team Supreme

Bridgehampton School

Bridgehampton

6423

Ward Melville HS

Ward Melville High School

East Setauket

6636

Full Metal Beavers

Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences

Jamaica

*6806

Mineola Wild Reds

Mineola High School

Mineola

*6911

Tappan Zee High School

Tappan Zee High School

Orangeburg

*6952

Trigger Hole

Shenzhen Experimental School

Shenzhen, China

 

The list of teams participating in the 2018 SBPLI Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition #2 (April 12-14), is as follows:

 

Team No.

Team Name

School/Organization

Hometown

263

Sachem Aftershock

Sachem High School (North & East)

Ronkonkoma

271

Mechanical Marauders

Bay Shore Senior High School

Bay Shore

287

Floyd

William Floyd High School

Mastic Beach

329

Mohawks

Patchogue-Medford High School

Medford

334

TechKnights

Brooklyn Technical High School

Brooklyn

353

POBots

Plainview-Old Bethpage/JFK High School

Plainview

369

High Voltage Robotics

William E. Grady Career & Technical Education High School and Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies

Brooklyn

496

Royals

Earl L. Vandermeulen High School

Port Jefferson

527

Red Dragons

Plainedge Senior High School

Massapequa

533

The PSIcotics

Lindenhurst Senior High School

Lindenhurst

545

ROBODAWGS

Island Trees High School

Levittown

601

BayBots

Hampton Bays Secondary School

Hampton Bays

806

The Brooklyn Blacksmiths

Xaverian High School & Fontbonne Hall Academy

Brooklyn

810

The Mechanical Bulls

Smithtown High School (East & West)

Smithtown

870

TEAM R.I.C.E.

Southold Junior-Senior High School

Southold

884

Mechanical Mules

Malverne Senior High School

Malverne

1468

Hicksville J-Birds

Hicksville High School

Hicksville

1554

Oceanside Robotics

Oceanside Senior High School

Oceanside

1601

Quantum Samurai

Aviation Career & Technical High School

Long Island City

1635

Technotics

Newtown High School

Elmhurst

1751

The Warriors

Comsewogue High School

Port Jefferson

1796

RoboTigers

Queens Vocational & Technical High School

Long Island City

2487

Mechanical Animals

Bayport-Blue Point and Sayville High Schools

West Sayville

2601

Steel Hawks

Townsend Harris High School

Flushing

2641

PCCR

Central Catholic High School

Pittsburgh, PA

2872

CyberHawks

Cold Spring Harbor High School

Cold Spring Harbor

3015

Ranger Robotics

Spencerport High School

Spencerport, NY

3171

Hurricanes

Westhampton Beach Senior High School

Westhampton Beach

3950

RoboGym Robotics

North Shore Senior High School

Glen Head

4006

CIBorgs

Central Islip Senior High School

Central Islip

4050

Biohazard

Franklin County 4-H

Chambersburg, PA

4458

Infernobotix

Center Moriches High School

Center Moriches

4528

Automatons

John Bowne High School

Queens

4567

The Mechanized Mafia

Seaford Senior High School

Seaford

5599

The Sentinels

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School

Bayside

5736

Kingsmen

Kings Park High School

Kings Park

5806

Horace Mann School

Horace Mann School

Bronx

6232

Florya Bisons

Florya Koleji

Istanbul, Turkey

6422

GearHeadz

Rocky Point/North Shore Youth Council

Rocky Point

6636

Full Metal Beavers

Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences

Jamaica

6746

Mustangs

Our Lady of Mercy Academy

Syosset

*6806

Mineola Wild Reds

Mineola High School

Mineola

*7201

Crobotics

Gimnazija Andrije Mohorovičića Rijeka

Rijeka, Croatia

 

*Denotes a rookie team

 

 

For more information on SBPLI or the FIRST Robotics Competition, please visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.