NNSRI 1305 has a Face-off in Toronto

File Photo of Team NNSRI 1305's big robot for 2009.

This past weekend saw the Near North School Robotics Initiative (NNSRI) Team NNSRI 1305 kick off the competition season at Emery Collegiate Institute in Toronto by competing in the FIRST Tech Challenge titled ‘Face-off’.

The tech challenge is the competition for the team’s small robot made of Lego and Tetrix parts had a chance to strut its stuff. The robot's goal is to pick up rubber hockey pucks and then score them in goals in the center of the field in the shape of a triangle, circle and square. The field also contains rollers and bumps to make driving more difficult for the robots.

The team had a 4th place ranking in the preliminary rounds and ended up in a picking situation for the finals. Where the team won their semi-final round but then unfortunately were defeated in the final round. NNSRI 1305 also made it as a top three finisher for a number of other awards.

“We won the ‘motivate’ award,” notes West Ferris Teacher Mentor Nadia Gagné.

“We did not qualify to go to Atlanta this year with our FTC robot, but we are looking forward to our FRC competitions and qualifying there.”

The Atlanta completion is the Olympics of FIRST as it is the international final where teams from all over the globe compete.

NNSRI 1305 heads off with the big robot to the University of Waterloo March 19th for the first of two ‘Lunacy’ 2009 Robotics Competition game qualifiers. The competition is open to the public and everyone from the area is welcome to show up and cheer on the home team.

Officials say Lunacy is designed to challenge returning teams but be easy enough for rookies, as well it comemorates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.