ENCINITAS — San Dieguito Academy’s robotics team, Team Paradox, took fifth place at the FIRST Robotics Ventura County Regional competition earlier this month in Port Hueneme, California.
The team’s custom-engineered robot — which is operated by a student driver and picks up donut-shaped foam game pieces to shoot them into raised scoring areas — propelled them to fifth place out of 50 teams worldwide during qualification rounds.
For the playoffs, groups are divided into alliances consisting of several teams. After gathering data on each robot’s performance, Team Paradox strategically collaborated with formidable partners, including the Aluminum Narwhals from Canyon Crest Academy.
The Team Paradox-Aluminum Narwhals alliance triumphed over a supergroup of former world champions, including High Tide, a team from Ventura that won the world championships last year in Houston, and Peninsula Robotics, the event’s highest-ranked team in the qualification matches.
The victory pushed the group into the competition’s final rounds.
Following the team’s first competition of the year, Team Paradox received the FIRST Robotics Quality Award, which celebrates machine design and fabrication.
Team Paradox is preparing for its second and final scheduled regional competition this year at the San Diego Regional on March 23 at the UCSD LionTree Arena.
The event, open to the public, will feature over 1500 high school students from 51 teams representing California and beyond, putting life-sized robots through their paces.
Team Paradox is supported by local corporate sponsors, including Nordson Electronics Solutions, Viasat, Qualcomm, Solar Turbines, SAIC, PCH Litho, Pluribus Digital and others, who provide robot parts and raw materials, access to the school machine shop, outreach events for underserved communities and travel scholarships for students in need.
