The Mt. Everett middle school drone team competed in the REC Aerial Drone Dragonfly Championship in West Virginia on May 19 and 20.  The team finished regulation play 7-3, earning a final ranking of 14 out of 62.  Of the 62 teams, only 15 were middle school while the rest were high school.  Teams ranged from Tennessee to Vermont with the most coming from the home state of West Virginia.  The height of excitement for the four team members was mid-morning on Saturday when the team moved to a record of 6-1 and reached as high as number 4 in the rankings.  The top 16 teams automatically qualify for the playoffs and can choose their playing partner.  The team paired up with a school from Edison, NJ, to win their opening match of the playoffs.  In the quarterfinals, the alliance ran into a formidable high school duo, both from West Virginia, who would eventually be crowned the tournament champions.

There were nearly 1,000 schools worldwide that participated in this year’s REC Aerial Drone Competition, but Mt. Everett was the only school from Massachusetts to compete this year.  The team finishes the year 121 in the overall world rankings.

The event was named Dragonfly in honor of NASA’s Dragonfly drone which will be going to the moon Titan in 2027.  The students were able to hear from NASA engineers on the project and see two different prototypes of the drone in action.

2018: Mt. Everett’s middle school robotics team traveled to Framingham to take on 44 other schools in the VEX Southern New England Championship. The team finished the regular round of play at 7-3, good enough for 10th place and an invite into the playoffs. The playoffs are a best of 3 format. Hyperspace, as the team is nicknamed, won its quarter-final and semi-final matches and moved into the finals. After a tight loss in the first game, Mt. Everett stormed back to the take the second setting up the third and final game of the event (to watch the final game, go to 8:35:00 in the YouTube video linked below). In an incredible back and forth game, Mt. Everett lost the finals by a single yellow cone, falling just shy of qualifying for the VEX World Championship in April. The event puts the cap on a tremendous season for the program which won two tournaments and compiled a total of 50 wins across all their events.

Mt. Everett’s run to the championship can be found at 8 hours and 10 minutes in the video below.

Three-Peat: FTC State Champions 2013, 2014, 2015

MA FIRST Tech Challenge Final Match

NATICK, MA, Feb. 28, 2015 – Thirty-two teams from across the state convened at Natick High School Saturday for the FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship.  Mt. Everett stormed out of the gates putting up over 400 points in its first match, took the number 1 ranking, and never relinquished the top spot all day.  After five rounds of regular play, Mt. Everett was undefeated and ready for the playoffs.

The FIRST Tech Challenge is played in alliances.  The top four teams get to choose two playing partners for the playoffs. The alliance of three takes turns rotating through the games in the semi-finals and finals, which are played in a best 2-out-of-3 format.   Mt. Everett is team 3085 and nicknamed the Higgs Bots.  With its first selection, team 3085 chose team 6055, the Gear Ticks from Lincoln, who finished the day ranked 2nd.  With its second selection, Mt. Everett chose its Berkshire County neighbor, Team 8227 Enguinity, from Lenox, who finished the day ranked 12th. The alliance swept the semi-finals 2-0.  The finals started off rough with Mt. Everett and Lenox losing the first game.  But the alliance came back strong with Mt. Everett and Lincoln taking games 2 and 3.  Watch the video of the driver-controlled period of the final game in which the Higgs Bots and the Gear Ticks put up 599 points to secure the state championship.  Take note of the Higgs Bots successfully scoring in the top goal and then making it up the ramp just before time expires.

As state champions, the entire alliance advances to the East Super Regional in Scranton, PA.  The East Super Regional will field 72 teams from Maine to Virginia in a three day tournament, March 19-21.  The top 25 teams from the East Super Regional will advance to the FTC World Championship in St. Louis in April.

Innovate & Inspire Awards for Mt. Everett:

As for judged awards, Mt. Everett won the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award for best overall robot design.  In addition, Mt. Everett was named runner-up for the Inspire Award, which is the highest FTC award granted.  The Inspire Award is judged across all categories and is given to the best overall robotic program in the state.

Mt. Everett Robotics is sponsored in part by the Eagle Fund managed by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.

The team and the eagle land in York, PA, for the FTC East Super Regional

YORK, PA, April 5, 2014 - The season started back on September 14th with a team meeting after school.  It came to end on April 5th with a loss in the divisional semi-finals in York, PA.  In between, the Mt. Everett Robotics team took home a championship trophy and the Innovate Award at Andover, along with their second straight state championship at Bridgewater.

Three weeks removed from their state championship, the Mt. Everett robotics team, nicknamed the Higgs Bots, arrived in York, PA on Wednesday for the East Super Regional.  Seventy-two teams from Maine to Virginia convened at the York Expo Center for a 3 day tournament.  The Higgs Bots performed very well throughout regular play compiling a record of 5-2-1, good enough for an 8th placed ranking in their 36 team division and an invitation to the playoffs.  During regular play, Mt. Everett defeated teams from Greenwich, CT to New York City to Downingtown, PA to Herndon, VA.   The thorn in their side though was Virginia state champion, team 5414, the Techie Tornados.  The Higgs Bots lost a fierce battle to them in round 6 as team 5414 moved its way up to the number 1 ranking in the tournament.  The Higgs Bots would find themselves matched up against team 5414 again in the playoffs.  Regular games are played in alliances of two.  The playoffs, however, are competed in alliances of three.  The three teams take turns rotating through each of the games in a best 2-out-of-3 format.     The Higgs Bots did help their alliance take game 2 of the semi-finals, but it wasn’t enough as the alliance lost games 1 and 3.

A team advances from the regional tournament to the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in St. Louis based on their competition performance or by winning one of a few judged awards.  After the playoffs and the awards are given out, teams are given a final ranking.  The Higgs Bots ranked 27th out of the 72 teams in terms of qualification credentials.  Unfortunately, only the top 25 are sent on to St. Louis.  One bit of hope for the Higgs Bots is if a team is unable to commit to the trip to St. Louis, their spot is then moved to the next available team.  Mt. Everett sits in the second alternate spot.

THANK YOU!

Team members and mentors would like to thank all those who donated money and purchased light bulbs to make the trip to the East Super Regional possible.  Team sponsors include the Eagle Fund, Berkshire Bank, Casivant Repair, Ghi Sign, Monterey T-Shirt, West Farm Equipment, and Google.

To learn more about this year's FIRST Tech Challenge visit http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc/game.  To learn more about the East Super Regional, visit http://www.ftceast.org.  And for more about our own Higgs Bots, visit http://www.mteverettrobotics.net

BRIDGEWATER – The Higgs Bots stormed out of the gates putting up 281 points, the highest point total of the entire day, in their very first match. However, things didn’t stay so smooth for Mt. Everett. The team lost the second match of the day when the robot failed to hang from the center bar. In the fourth match, a failure of the on-board computer rendered the robot immovable. Both matches ended in losses. The team replac... See More

BRIDGEWATER, March 8, 2014 – The Higgs Bots stormed out of the gates putting up 281 points, the highest point total of the entire day, in their very first match.  However, things didn’t stay so smooth for Mt. Everett.  In the second match of the day the robot failed to hang from the center bar.  In the fourth match, a failure of the on-board computer rendered the robot immovable.  Both matches ended in losses.  The team replaced the computer and rebounded in the fifth and final match for another 200+ point round.  After five rounds of regular play, the Higgs Bots stood 3-2 and in 13th place out of 32 teams.

The top four teams get to choose two playing partners for the playoffs.  The alliance of three takes turns rotating through the games in the semi-finals and finals, which are played in a best 2-out-of-3 format.   As the teams moved down the line, it looked like an early exit until the 12th and final invite was announced to team 3085, The Higgs Bots, from Mt. Everett.  Mt. Everett teamed up with Team 3737 from Natick and Team 4377 from New Bedford.  The three team alliance won the semi-finals match 2 games to 1.  In similar form, the alliance won game 1, but lost game 2 of the finals.  The alliance’s decision was to send out Mt. Everett and Natick for game 3.  The two teams had found a perfect symmetry in a previous round scoring a new high total for the day of 289 points.  In the final round, the teams worked smoothly together once again blowing out the final match 271-63 and taking home the state championship.  The video shows the driver-controlled period of game 3.  The Higgs Bots are the red alliance and working from the far side of the field.  Watch the Higgs Bots successfully hang and their partner raise the flag in the corner before time expires.

The entire alliance advances to the FTC East Super Regional in York, PA.  The East Super Regional will field 72 teams from Maine to Virginia in a three day tournament, April 3-5.  Winners from there advance to the World Championship in St. Louis at the end of April.

Team Members are: Kosta Casivant, Max Lowenstein, Jake Christinat, Justin Makuc, Ben Webb, Patrick Hogelin, Michaela Loring, Charles Kuzmech, Jordan Chretien, and team assistant Nikos Casivant.  Team mentors are Marvin Casivant, Paul O'Brien, and Chris Thompson.


The Mt. Everett Robotics team is sponsored by the Eagle Fund, managed by The Berkshire-Taconic Community Foundation.


For more info about the FIRST Tech Challenge, visit http://www.usfirst.org/.  For info about FTC in Masscachusetts, visit http://massftc.org/

On Saturday, March 16, 2013, the Mt. Everett Robotics team competed against 28 other teams in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) State Championship at Bridgewater State University. There are 57 high school teams in the state competing in FTC. The 28 teams at Bridgewater on Saturday had all advanced through qualifying rounds held earlier this winter. Mt. Everett qualified by winning the Middlesex Community College qualifier back on January 19th.

The FIRST Tech Challenge this year is titled Ring It Up. Robots need to remove plastic rings hanging on PVC pipes at the edge of the playing field and raise them up on to the scoring rack at the center of the field. The scoring rack has 3 different levels the rings can be placed on. The higher you go, the more points you get. Games are competed in alliances. Two teams form an alliance and compete against another alliance. Additionally, robots can earn more points for lifting their alliance partner before the end of regulation time.

Each of the 28 teams ran six preliminary rounds. Mt. Everett finished those rounds at 5-1 and was seeded 5th going in to the playoffs. Mt. Everett’s team, nicknamed the Higgs Bots, teamed up with Team Immortalis from Pathfinder Vo-Tech in Palmer. The playoffs are competed in a best 2-out-of-3 format. The two teams swept through the semi-finals and finals winning both 2-0 and being crowned the 2012-2013 Massachusetts FTC State Champions.  Unfortunately for the Higgs Bots, only the team that “captains” the alliance moves on to the FTC World Championship in St. Louis next month. Since Team Immortalis ranked higher than Higgs Bots after the preliminary rounds of play, they move on and the Higgs Bots season is over. However, Mt. Everett takes home a state championship trophy and medals for each player and mentor. All totaled, from their three competitions this year, the Higgs Bots compiled a record of 25-6-1. This is the fifth year Mt. Everett has competed in FTC . No other schools in Berkshire County compete in high school robotics.

The year's team members are Carina Alden, Jason Dagruel, Kosta Casivant, Max Lowenstein, Jake Christinat, and Justin Makuc. Team mentors are Chris Thompson, Paul O'Brien and Marvin Casivant. Team assistant is Nikos Casivant.