Robotics teams make the Monterey Bay proud

The competition in St. Louis came and went, and the boys and girls from York, Seaside, and Carmel robotics teams did great.

As you probably remember from my earlier reporting, the three robotics teams earned the right to advance to the final competition in St. Louis, Missouri. They left last week, competed, and had time to tour around (judging by the photos posted by Tom Clifford, Carmel's coach extraordinaire. You can look at his blog here.)

Katy Castagna, York's mom extraordinaire, accompanied her son and all the teams through their adventure. She reports that the Seaside Bay Bots had the best record, with six wins and four losses. York's Deus Ex Machina and Carmel's Rocking Bots both had four wins and six losses.

"We should be very proud to have three local teams compete among 400 of the best from all over the world," Katy wrote.

Indeed, we are.

(Photos courtesy of Tom Clifford and Katy Castagna)

Monterey Robotics clubs heading to national competition

Monterey Peninsula leaders stepped up to help the students of Carmel, Seaside, and York high schools so they could all go to the national FIRST robotic competition this weekend in St. Louis.

Donations came in big and small, and among the largest ones were $2,500 from Seaside Rotary going to their high school and $2,000 from the Yellow Brick Road Foundation to Carmel High School. An online fundraiser also raised about $2,500.

All schools are sending their teams to Missouri this weekend. Good luck, guys and gals! Can't wait to hear how you all do!

Monterey Peninsula Robotics teams need your help

The news has spread like wildfire. Three robotics teams from the Monterey Peninsula earned a pass to the national competition by showing how good the students are with engineering and science. You can read my story about it here. The teams from Carmel, Seaside, and York are raising funds to fly to St. Louis, Missouri, later this month and compete in the national FIRST robotics tournament.

And they're turning to the community for help. You can contribute to their efforts by sending a check to their respective schools, or by pledging funds to this joint Indigogo campaign .

Carmel High ASB
PO Box 222780
Carmel CA 93922

Seaside High School
Attention Robotics Club
2200 Noche Buena St
Seaside, CA 93955

York School
Attention: Robotics Team
9501 York Rd
Monterey, CA 93940


Go teams! I can't wait to see how far you get.

Monterey County teens compete in Robotics in Sacramento

California Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson will attend the Sacramento Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition at UC Davies.

High school students from 55 California schools will compete for $19 million in scholarships -- and I know we have several students from local high schools in the mix. Good luck, guys and gals! Let me know how well you place in the competition.

Cyber adventures: children learn to love robotics and computer science

About two dozen middle schoolers had a chance to participate in "Cyber Adventures: the Joy and Beauty of Computer Science," a week-long program offered at the Alisal Campus of Hartnell College. The Lyceum of Monterey County, the Naval Postgraduate School and Hartnell College all collaborated to make this program possible. The students also went on a field trip to MBARI and NPS, participated in a robotics competition, and judging by their smiley faces in the photos, had a blast!

This was the first time this event took place, so I hope to see it next year!

Seaside, Carmel, winners in FIRST Robotics competition!

The First Robotics Competition of Silicon Valley took place March 29-31 at San Jose State University, and two Monterey County teams earned top honors for their creativity and cooperative spirit.

The Seaside High Auto Tech class earned the "coopertition" award. Check their photos here.

Carmel High School students received the most creative award. Here's their photos.

Students from schools around the region competed in the Rebound Rumble. Robots were built and programmed by the students to move, pick-up a basketball, and shoot baskets. If you've never attended one, robotics competition offer students a chance to go wacky, very much in the spirit of the area and Steve Jobs!

We have so much talent and creativity in our midst, I would not be surprised if more teams from the area received awards. Let me know who they are so I can add them to my list.