by Christopher Brouse and Daniel Brouse
Ambler, PA — The Wissahickon FIRST robotics team is from Ambler, PA. They are known as Team 341 and have named their robot Miss Daisy. The team’s battle cry — “Flower Power!” Everyone is welcome to their garden. With ten great years of experience, this has been one of their most successful seasons.
The Wissahickon team recently traveled to San Diego. On the trip, they acquired some very impressive trophies. The Judge’s Award was achieved in large part for aiding a Brazilian team. The South American robot had accidentally been shipped to Memphis, Tennessee. Several members of the Wissahickon team, along with help from a few other teams, assisted the Brazilians in successfully building a machine “on-the-spot.” Though it normally takes weeks for a build season, the robot was able to hold 7th place out of 46 teams.
The Wissahickon team was even more fortunate by winning first place in the overall competition against one of the best machines in the world — a team sponsored by NASA and supported by NASA engineers. Miss Daisy took the stadium by storm by making one of the biggest robotic upsets in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) history. It would also appear that Team 341 was the first East Coast team to ever win the Western Regional. (Read more about the San Diego competition at http://membrane.com/robotics/San-Diego.html)
The MC Announces Miss Daisy in Philly
In March, at the Philadelphia Regional, Team 341 achieved one of the most honored awards, Engineering Inspiration. Not only do the members try to have a highly inspired team, they also try to spread the inspiration to young and old… both far and wide.
Next, the team travels to compete at the World Championship event in Atlanta, GA, April 16, 17 and 18.
The Wissahickon website also won first place at the San Diego event. It is a great place to learn more about FIRST and Miss Daisy. You can check it out at www.team341.com.
For more information on robotics, visit http://membrane.com/robotics/.
[Christopher Brouse is the team captain and has been the mechanical build team captain for the past three years.]
Tags: Ambler, FIRST robotics, PA, robots, Team 341