After months of careful preparation, Wheatley’s Cybercats Robotics team competed in the 2016 FIRST Robotics Competition held at Hofstra University. Each year, the competition requires that teams design a robot that is able to fulfill certain tasks. In the past, such tasks have included shooting balls through hoops, managing recycling bins and throwing a frisbee through a target.

The FIRST Robotics competition is the nation’s premier competition for high school robotics teams. For the seventh consecutive year, Wheatley has fielded a team in the regional competition for this event. Schools from across Long Island and the tri-state area compete in this event.

Within the guidelines of the competition rules, students were required to design a robot that would work with two other teams in order to breach their opponents’ fortifications, weaken their tower with boulders, and capture the opposing tower. Robots were also expected to scale the opposing tower to earn bonus points.

These tasks necessitated design elements, production elements and programming expertise. The Cybercats team was supported by Patrick Hurley and Joseph Fina.

Congratulations to the students who worked tirelessly in order to prepare for the competition!