Roosevelt & Saunders in Overdrive to Become RoboTop
A $40,000 Grant from the Andrew and Judith Economos Foundation Gets Them In Gear

Watch the NASA Produced US FIRST Robotics Animation Thank You Dr. & Mrs. Economos A standing ovation from the audience at the January Board of Education Meeting greeted these gracious and generous benefactors of the Roosevelt High School & Saunders High School US FIRST Robotic Competition teams. FIRST Robotics Competition NASA Robotics Alliance

Two teams of students from Roosevelt and Saunders High Schools have just a few more weeks to transform an identical jumble of motors, batteries, automation components and a control system into a fully-functioning robot that can race around a 27x 54 foot carpeted track, knocking down and moving 40 inch inflated trackballs, passing them over or under a 6 foot 6 inch overpass, then returning them to their original position in 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

Both teams are competing in the US FIRST Robotics competition, thanks in large part to the generosity of the Andrew and Judith Economos Foundation, which provided $40,000 to help underwrite the costs. Technical assistance, parts and support in manufacturing were only part of what Con Edison provided to both schools. Jose Nunes, Saunders teacher/coach, emphasized that it was the daily mentoring by Con Edison personnel, at the schools and in their shops, which was so important to the students.

Working with their teachers and mentors, and with the generosity of their sponsors, the Roosevelt and Saunders teams are designing, building, and testing their robots to the engineering specifications of the US First Robotics Challenge.  More than 37,500 high-school students on more than 1,500 teams from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the U.K., and every state in the U.S. are participating in this year's competition.

In addition to the Economos Foundation, "YAMETS631", the Roosevelt robot, is sponsored by Berkley College and the enthusiastic school community. "Linda", the Saunders robot, is also sponsored by NASA, Dott Communications LLC, Craneco, and the Manhattan College School of Engineering.

YAMET631, Linda and their engineers will be competing in regional competitions beginning in March. We will keep you posted!