Robotics Qualifies for Worlds

Jesuit High School Robotics is heading to the World Championships.

This past weekend (March 29-31) at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, Jesuit's Stealth Tigers Team 3164, with its fast and agile robot, powered its way to the Finals of the South Florida Regional.

The runner-up finish in the prestigious FRC First Robotics Regional event qualified the Stealth Tigers, in their 9th season, for their first FIRST Robotics World Championships, which are April 21 weekend in Houston.

“We knew during our final few matches at the Orlando Regional (in early March) that we were capable of something special,” said Robotics club moderator Lauren Hescheles. “The team put in an incredible amount of time, effort, focus, and teamwork the past few months. To see it all come together this weekend was awesome.”

Up against more than 50 of the nation’s top robotics programs plus five elite international programs, the Stealth Tigers were selected for the knockout stage based on strong performances in qualifying. The superior speed and agility of the robot was critical: The Stealth Tigers used mecanum wheels that can strafe side-to-side, essentially allowing the robot to move in any direction.

In a three-team alliance with the American Heritage Ninjineers Team 2383 and the Robo Rays Team 1744 of Collier County, the Stealth Tigers won their Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches to make the Finals. Both of the three-team alliances that advanced to the Finals qualified for Houston.

Many robotics teams represent regions or clusters of schools that have united their resources into one team. The Stealth Tigers are comprised of students from Jesuit and the Academy of the Holy Names. Representing Jesuit in South Florida were: Daniel Guagliardo '19 (co-captain), Christian Jung '18 (club president), Jack Wernet '19 (lead mechanic), Daniel Prendes '20 (mechanical assistant), Carson Reams '20 (computer aided design), Dominic Lafalce '20 (co-safety captain), Victor Anderson '19 (co-director field elements), Owen MacKenzie '19 (co-director field elements), Andrew Jung '19, John Barreto '21, and Roberto Vazquez ’21.

Representing the Academy of the Holy Names were senior Priscilla Santiago, juniors Colleen Duffy (co-captain), Maria Hurtado (lead coder), and Madison Rooth, and sophomore Gabriella Consalvo (co-safety captain).

In addition to moderators Hescheles and Jason Ault, the Stealth Tigers are supported by mentors Patrick Duffy, P ’15, Barry Sharp, P ’08, and Ray Prendes, P ’17, ’20.

Each season, FIRST Robotics teams build a new robot to tackle a new game challenge. Click here for a video explaining this spring’s game challenge, titled FIRST Power Up, and click here to watch Jesuit's robot No. 3164 in action at the South Florida Regional. In Power Up, the robots move large yellow "power cubes" into various switches, plates, scales, and vaults at the right time to maximize scoring. The first 15 seconds are autonomous, as the robot’s movements are pre-set. The next 2:15 are tele-operated, as a team member, the driver, controls the robot. At the end, the robots must climb a center platform.

The Stealth Tigers' drive team during game action consisted of drivers/pilots Wernet and Prendes, coach Christian Jung, human player Rooth, and technician Duffy.

Click below for a photo slideshow from the South Florida Regional, and below that is the video of Jesuit's robot No. 3164 in action.