Gateway IT High School | Robotics

Explain the New Game (the 2009 Fall Game!)

The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opposing alliance by shooting 9-inch (circumference) plastic balls into the goals in the center of the Playing Field (high or low) or in the Off-field Goals during the last 30 seconds of the match. The High Goal freely spins 360-degrees on a pivot.

There are a total of 80 balls available to both teams as scoring objects in the game. Eight balls are given to each alliance to pre-load onto the Robots in any way they want and 60 will be placed in Ball Chutes located on each corner of the Playing Field - 15 per chute. One special Bonus Ball (with a Yellow color) will be given to each team but may only be introduced onto the Playing Field in the last 30 seconds of the match.

Saint Louis Regional

At the St. Louis Regional, our teams did exceptionally well. At the end of qualification matches, where teams are paired randomly with each other, Team 295 stood 1st, Team 288 stood 7th, and Team 3202 stood 17th. Being the 1st Alliance Captains, Team 295 picked their first alliance partner and in the end, Team 295 had 2 other teams and Team 3202 was picked by the 4th place team. Alliance 1, led by Team 295 made it to the finals and lost, earning the Silver Medal.

Cape Girardeau Regional

We only took one team to this regional, Team 288. This was a first year regional, so we mainly went to mentor the other teams. There we lent large amounts of programming assistance. Team 288 ended up in 3rd place and was picked by the 2nd place team. They lost in the semifinals. Due to the lack of spirit among the crowd, we rallied up a group of audience members and started cheering to show that the regional isn't all about serious competition, but also a lot of fun.

Team History

FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) Robotics started at Gateway in 2005. It was called FVC (FIRST VEX Challenge) back then, as it was still a pilot program, We had two teams that year. We placed second and fourth in the St. Louis Regional Championship event. Both teams then went on to the World Chapionships. One of our teams finished 7th overall and the other team finished in the the high 20's.

During our second year (2006) we still had two teams. One team won the St. Louis regional Championship and the other team finished 3rd. Our winning team went on to the World Championships and tied for 2nd place.

During our third year (2007) of competing the name changed from FVC to FTC and it was no longer a pilot program, it was officially here to stay. We had two teams again and both did well finishing 3rd place at the St. Louis Regional Championship.

In 2008, during our 4th year we had a lot more students and we felt the need to expand to three teams. We were very successful having one team win the St. Louis Regional Championship and the other two teams finishing 3rd.

Team Logo 's {Team 288 Logo}

Meeting Dates

Since FTC isn't in season right now, we aren't having meetings specifically for it. If you would like to join our FTC team, or make a team of your own, Charlie Blair is the person you should talk to.

Contact E-mail

charlie.blair@slps.org

Charlie Blair

Electronics Instructor

FIRST Robotics Coach

Gateway Institute of Technology High School

5101 McRee Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63110

314-776-3300 ext. 2280