Yasmine Novian

Spotlight Editor

From March 15-17, Milken’s Robotics team, The Milken Knights, traveled to the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California to compete in the FIRST Los Angeles Regional Robotics Competition.

At the competition, the Knights finished in second place and went home with an impressive title of “regional finalists.” The competition included 66 teams, among which were squads from Brazil and Chile. This year’s contest, called “Rebound Rumble,” challenged each team to build a robot that could shoot a ball into a hoop and balance on specialized bridges. Teams were restricted to building a robot weighing no more than 120 pounds in a build season of just six weeks. The Knights decided to name their robot “Sir Lancebot,” in agreement with their medieval theme.

Each year, the Knights compete in two competitions. After running into some technical difficulties at their first competition in San Diego, The Knights were able to show their true abilities this past weekend.

“We had a much more effective robot and a much more cohesive and dynamic team. Everyone attentively played their part and I am sure we will only get better from here,” Mr. Roger Kassebaum, Director of the Mitchell Academy of Science, said.

In preparation for the competition, the team had been meeting since October to train new members and order necessary materials. After hours of arduously designing, constructing and reconstructing, the members of the team felt more than accomplished.

“It has probably taught me the most out of anything I’ve done in high school. My experiences on the team these past few months truly showed me how hard work and determination really pay off,” Jonathan Zur ’13, member of the Milken Knights, said.