Hatboro-Horsham FIRST Robotics 2022

March 14th, 2022

HORSHAM, PA

FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics is back and better than ever at Hatboro-Horsham High School. Due to COVID-19, the past two seasons of robotics haven’t had in-person competitions. The HH team 708, still stayed involved in robotics. During the pandemic, the mentors designed a FIRST style game called Tumbleweed Takeover for them to play in small groups. This contest involved manipulating foam football game pieces and climbing upstairs. Participating in that event allowed them to stay involved in robotics and go through the engineering design process.  Game animation: https://youtu.be/SHvcFAtPOYU

Even during the pandemic, Hatter pride was shining as they created a project called HatterSTEM. HatterSTEM exposes young students to STEM through fun and interactive STEM activities. Through short YouTube videos, members of Hatters Robotics explain the activities with animations and discuss the STEM theories behind the experiment. So far, they have released over 20 videos and have over 1800 views. Check out the HatterSTEM Youtube!

This community is preparing young students for future careers in STEM, FIRST is a program that engages students of all ages. FIRST has four progression levels so all grades can compete in this program.

• First Lego League Jr (FLL Jr)- Grades K-4
• First Lego League (FLL)- Grades 4-8
• First Tech Challenge (FTC)- Grades 7-12
• First Robotics Competition (FRC)- Grades 9-12

Hatboro-Horsham’s High School Team 708, competed on the weekend of March 4th-6th. Having the home field advanced, team 708 did win the District Chairman’s Award. The Chairman’s award was given to them for inspiring FIRST and STEM in their district and community. They submitted an essay, executive summaries, a video, and did a presentation to be in the running for the award. To see this week’s scores they can be viewed here.

The theme of this year’s competition is called, “Rapid React”. The game works with two alliances of three teams each competing to shoot the cargo balls into the hub. The cargo balls are 9.5-inch tennis balls. Shooting into the lower hub equals one point and shooting into the upper hub is two points. The robot also needs to be able to climb in the hanger zone and monkey bar to the top rung. Climbing the bars is an additional way to score more points.

The next phase of the competition will be happening this upcoming weekend at Springside Chestnut Hill. This will be team’s 708-second district qualifier event. Since they won the Chairman’s award at the HH competition, they automatically advance to FMA District Champs at Lehigh University, in April.