News
Oakland: Head-Royce School wins state robotics title
By Shelly Wong
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2017 at 7:41 am | UPDATED: March 16, 2017 at 7:48 am
OAKLAND — In an exciting come from behind victory, Head-Royce School took the tournament championship high school title for the Northern California Vex Robotics State Championship in February in San Jose.
The wins qualified the teams for four spots in the world championship in April in Louisville, Kentucky.
Two high school teams won the tournament championship title and two high school teams played into the semifinals, which qualified them for the world championship. One of the middle school teams held first place throughout the tournament and was in the top seed, but lost in the finals. The middle school team won the sportsmanship award in its division.
Head-Royce brought an unprecedented number of teams to the state championship this year. All seven teams that Head-Royce fielded qualified for state championships, which include five high school teams and two middle school teams. The team plays on average of a tournament a month and must win a local competition to qualify for the state championship.
This year’s game included two alliance partner robots flinging as many yellow stars and orange cubes as possible over a stationary fence against an opposing team of two alliance partners. A successful win includes the execution of many skills including robot design, robot build, programming, driving, strategy, and alliance and negotiation with other partner teams from other schools.
Vex Robotics is the largest worldwide organization of robotic competitions ranging from primary school to the university level.
Head-Royce competes in a field of 18,000 teams in 35 countries. The top 4 percent of the 18,000 teams qualify for the world championship.
Teams begin competing in local and regional competitions in August and must win a local competition to qualify for the state championships in February. To earn a high school world championship spot, teams must qualify for the semifinals in the state championship, and to earn a middle school spot, the teams must win the state championship competition.
Teams that do not qualify in state championships must qualify with high driving and programming skills in a March competition by having the highest scores in the world championship.
Only 36 high school and 18 middle school spots are given for the state of California for the world championship.
It is expected that the full 25-member Head-Royce robotics team will be attending the world championship in Louisville, Kentucky on April 19-22.
This will be the sixth consecutive year that Head-Royce has brought teams to the world championship and the largest team in Head-Royce history.
For the past two years, Head-Royce has had the largest California representation at the world championship. In 2014, Head-Royce won the world finalist title, second place, out of 10,000 teams. The team will travel to Louisville in April to pursue gold.
-- East Bay Times
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/13/oakland-head-royce-school-wins-state-robotics-title/
Oakland: Head-Royce School wins state robotics title
By Shelly Wong
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2017 at 7:41 am | UPDATED: March 16, 2017 at 7:48 am
OAKLAND — In an exciting come from behind victory, Head-Royce School took the tournament championship high school title for the Northern California Vex Robotics State Championship in February in San Jose.
The wins qualified the teams for four spots in the world championship in April in Louisville, Kentucky.
Two high school teams won the tournament championship title and two high school teams played into the semifinals, which qualified them for the world championship. One of the middle school teams held first place throughout the tournament and was in the top seed, but lost in the finals. The middle school team won the sportsmanship award in its division.
Head-Royce brought an unprecedented number of teams to the state championship this year. All seven teams that Head-Royce fielded qualified for state championships, which include five high school teams and two middle school teams. The team plays on average of a tournament a month and must win a local competition to qualify for the state championship.
This year’s game included two alliance partner robots flinging as many yellow stars and orange cubes as possible over a stationary fence against an opposing team of two alliance partners. A successful win includes the execution of many skills including robot design, robot build, programming, driving, strategy, and alliance and negotiation with other partner teams from other schools.
Vex Robotics is the largest worldwide organization of robotic competitions ranging from primary school to the university level.
Head-Royce competes in a field of 18,000 teams in 35 countries. The top 4 percent of the 18,000 teams qualify for the world championship.
Teams begin competing in local and regional competitions in August and must win a local competition to qualify for the state championships in February. To earn a high school world championship spot, teams must qualify for the semifinals in the state championship, and to earn a middle school spot, the teams must win the state championship competition.
Teams that do not qualify in state championships must qualify with high driving and programming skills in a March competition by having the highest scores in the world championship.
Only 36 high school and 18 middle school spots are given for the state of California for the world championship.
It is expected that the full 25-member Head-Royce robotics team will be attending the world championship in Louisville, Kentucky on April 19-22.
This will be the sixth consecutive year that Head-Royce has brought teams to the world championship and the largest team in Head-Royce history.
For the past two years, Head-Royce has had the largest California representation at the world championship. In 2014, Head-Royce won the world finalist title, second place, out of 10,000 teams. The team will travel to Louisville in April to pursue gold.
-- East Bay Times
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/13/oakland-head-royce-school-wins-state-robotics-title/
Head-Royce School took the tournament championship high school title for the Northern California Vex Robotics State Championship in February in San Jose. The wins qualified the teams for the world championship in April in Louisville, Kentucky. High school team members are: Matthew Chan, Lewis Eatherton, Sophie Max Kojima, Nicholas Horsey, Chris Wu, Ryan Chern, Andrew Wan, Phillip Chin, Cameron Chin, Nathan Yuen, Joy Liu, Fitch Ji, Bradley Wu and Fiona Chen. The middle school team members are: Arun Parwani, Jack Chin, Jake Block, Charlie Jones, Dominick Quaye and Malena Chen. Team mentors are: Chris Harper, high school physics teacher, Alex Chan, Shelly Wong, Kishore Parwani, Phillip Chin and Chad Jones. (Courtesy of Brian Yuen)
News
Head-Royce Robohawks win division title at world championships
By BAY AREA NEWS GROUP
PUBLISHED: April 29, 2015 at 3:46 pm | UPDATED: August 15, 2016 at 10:01 am
OAKLAND — The four Head-Royce Robohawks teams traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, to compete in the VEX Robotics World Championships on April 15-18, with one of the Upper School teams winning a division championship.
Robohawks Team A, made up of Trevor Chan, Sabrina Chern, Thomas Harper, Charlotte Merzbacher and Ian Van Steen, won one of five division championships. That qualified the team for the round robin high school contest, along with four other teams vying for the world championship. While they did not take home that title, the Head-Royce Robohawks name is prominently known after two consecutive years of competing before a crowd of 15,000 at the world championships.
In addition, all four Robohawk teams were selected in alliances by other teams to play in qualifying rounds to compete for division championships.
Team B, made up of Upper School students Alberto Garcia, Nick Horsey, Fiona Chen and Ryan Chern; Team C, composed of Middle School students Phillip Chin, Lewie Eatherton, Fitch Ji, Charles Jones and Chris Tam; and Team D of Upper Schoolers Matthew Chan, Cameron Chin, Sophie Max Kojima, Andrew Wan and Nathan Yuen were all selected for alliances and lost in the quarter finals.
More than 10,000 teams in 28 countries compete in VEX Robotics competitions. This year’s theme was “Skyrise,” which required robots to pick up yellow plastic cylinders and build a 6-foot-tall tower as well as pick up plastic squares and score them on poles. The top 440 teams compete in the world championship games, earning a spot by either by winning a state championship or by securing a top 30 score in a skills and programming challenge.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2015/04/29/head-royce-robohawks-win-division-title-at-world-championships/ 1/2
9/18/2016 Head-Royce Robohawks win division title at world championships – East Bay Times
In 2014, the Robohawks brought home the VEX Robotics World Championship finalist title, which placed them in second place in the world out of 10,000 teams. In 2013, Head-Royce brought home the division finalist title in the world championships, which placed them in the top 20 teams of the world. For the past five years, Robohawks teams have qualified for the world championships.
The Robohawks teams are coached by parent Alex Chan, teacher Chris Harper and alum Eric Chan. They are sponsored by Head-Royce School, Morpho Detection — a Saffron Company, Clorox Company and Fine Arts Express.
— Head-Royce School —
News > Education
Head-Royce’s Robohawks teams to compete in
world championships
Head-Royce School Robohawks team, back row from left, Cameron Chin, Matthew Chan, Ryan Chern, Trevor Chan, Fiona Chen, Sabrina Chern, Alberto Garcia, Nicholas Horsey, Andrew Wan, Sophie Max Kojima and the award-winning robot; front row from left, Christopher Tam, Charlie Jones, Nathan Yuen, Phillip Chin, Thomas Harper and Charlotte Merzbacher.
By MAGGIE SHARPE
PUBLISHED: March 25, 2015 at 5:42 pm | UPDATED: August 15, 2016 at 10:02 am
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2015/03/25/head-royces-robohawks-teams-to-compete-in-world-championships/ 1/3
9/18/2016 Head-Royce’s Robohawks teams to compete in world championships – East Bay Times
OAKLAND — The Head-Royce School Robohawks were finalists in last year’s VEX Robotics World Championship — they took second place — and they’re hoping for an even better performance at this year’s world championship next month in Louisville, Kentucky.
All four Robohawks teams qualified for the 2015 World Championship tournament, including one middle school and three high school teams. The 8000A (high school) and 8000C (middle school) teams already took the California State Championship title at the March 7 competition in San Jose. The other two teams made the cut for World’s at the second annual East Bay Robot and Programming Skills Challenge hosted Feb. 28 by Head-Royce.
“More than 10,000 teams in 28 countries compete in VEX Robotics competitions,” said Megan Long, communications manager for Head-Royce. “This year’s theme is ‘Skyrise,’ which requires robots to pick up yellow plastic cylinders and build a 6-foot-tall Skyrise tower as well as pick up plastic squares and score them on poles. The top 440 teams compete in the World Championship games, earning a spot by either winning a state championship or by securing a top-30 score in a Skills and Programming Challenge.”
The VEX Robotics Competition is billed as “the ultimate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activity for middle school and high school students” by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, which sponsors the events. The Robohawks have made it to world championships for the past five years and now rank as a top team in the world.
Senior Charlotte Merzbacher, 17, has been to VEX world championships before, including last year’s competition at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California.
“It’s an amazing experience,” said Merzbacher, who is heading to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in the fall, probably to study biochemical engineering. “You get to meet so many people from different countries including China, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Europe and South America. Even though you don’t share the same language or life experience, we find a lot of common ground through robotics and engineering. Although we’re all competing against each other, it’s very friendly, and teams help each other out. The connections we make are a big part of the game.”
Trevor Chan, 17, is a junior at Head-Royce and has been a Robohawk for the past four years. He’s also team captain. His older brother Eric, now a student at Yale, started Robohawks at the school five years ago with two other friends.
“We meet and practice Saturday mornings at my home in the Oakland hills,” said Chan, whose father, Alex Chan, is one of the team’s coaches.
Chan said robots are a natural next step after the Industrial Revolution and the rapid revolution in technology.
“We call it the Robot Revolution, with robots doing tasks more consistently and efficiently. You already see many examples today, such as manufacturing assembly lines and self-driving cars — which are safer than cars driven by people,” Chan said.
Robohawk and Head-Royce junior Thomas Harper, 17, said their teams’ ability to build the Skyrise quickly set them apart from the competition.
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9/18/2016 Head-Royce’s Robohawks teams to compete in world championships – East Bay Times
“Other teams were good at loading blocks onto posts, but slower at building the Skyrise tower,” said Harper, whose father is a teacher at Head-Royce and also a Robohawks’ coach. “We experimented with different kinds of lifters and chassis to see which one worked best. Building the Skyrise is important because the faster you can build it, the more points you can score. It’s a high-scoring part of the game.”
Merzbacher said this year’s VEX Skyrise challenge has been particularly hard.
“All the tasks this year require so much precision, and there are so many different tasks to complete,” Merzbacher said. “It’s hard to build a robot that is 6 feet tall without it tipping over when it’s being moved around.”
The Robohawks high school teams include: captain Trevor Chan along with Matthew Chan, Fiona Chen, Ryan Chern, Sabrina Chern, Cameron Chin, Alberto Garcia, Thomas Harper, Nicholas Horsey, Sophie Max Kojima, Charlotte Merzbacher, Ian Van Steen, Andrew Wan and Nathan Yuen. The middle school Robohawks team is composed of: Phillip Chin, Louie Eatherton, Fitch Ji, Charlie Jones and Christopher Tam.
The teams are sponsored by Head-Royce, Morpho Detection, Clorox Company and Fine Arts Express. —
News > Nation & World
Head-Royce Robohawks excel at 2016 VEX
Worlds
By BAY AREA LIVING STAFF
PUBLISHED: June 8, 2016 at 5:33 pm | UPDATED: August 15, 2016 at 9:17 am
OAKLAND — Head-Royce School took five teams totaling 25 students to the 2016 VEX Worlds championship in Louisville, Kentucky, in April.
High School Team A won a division finalist title, capping a season of significant wins for Head-Royce’s robotics teams.
Head Royce’s teams traveled to Louisville on April 25 with five teams — one middle school team and four high school teams. They competed in a series of qualifying and finals matches lasting nearly three days.
Out of the five teams, four placed high enough in their qualifying matches of 100 rounds to proceed to the finals. The high school team of seniors survived through the division semifinals to take home the division finalist title, placing them in the top 15 teams in the world out of 10,000 teams worldwide.
To qualify for the world championship tournament, each of the five Robohawks teams had to either win a state championship finalist title, or qualify with high robot driving skills for the season.
Three of the five teams won the Northern California state championship finalist title. One of the high school teams placed number 11 in the world for driving skills in the East Bay Robot Skills for the Stars.
The middle school team qualified with the top skills challenge in the middle school division. Head-Royce has qualified to play in the world championships for the past five years and is ranked in the top 10 teams in the world.
The VEX robotics competition is the largest competition in the world, made up of more than 10,000 teams participating in 32 countries. The season begins June 1 and finishes at the end of April with the world championship tournament. The 2016 VEX Worlds in April set a Guinness world record as the largest robotics competition.
This year’s game was called “Nothing But Net,” which featured the robots shooting nerf balls into basketball-type nets in a high-speed flurry of colored balls. The competition required high-speed accurate shooting from long and short distances via remote control and driver control segments.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/06/08/head-royce-robohawks-excel-at-2016-vex-worlds/ 1/2
9/18/2016 Head-Royce Robohawks excel at 2016 VEX Worlds – East Bay Times
Teammates attending the competition included High School Team A and graduating seniors. Team captains were: Trevor Chan and Thomas Harper, Sabrina Chern, Ian Van Stein and Alberto Garcia.
High School Team B members were: Matthew Chan, Louie Eatherton, Andrew Wan, Sophie Max Kojima and Fiona Chen.
High School Team D members were: Nicholas Horsey, Fitch Ji and Ryan Chern. High School Team G members were: Cameron Chin, Nathan Yuen and Bradley Wu.
Middle School Team members were: Arun Parwani, Charlie Jones, Phillip Chin, Dominick Quaye, Christopher Tam, Jake Block, Jack Chin and Luca Snoey.
The teams were coached by: middle school parent coaches Kishore Parwani and Phil Chinn; high school parent coaches Alex Chan and Shelly Wong; mentor Eric Chan, a Head-Royce alum 2014 now enrolled at Yale University; and school liaison Chris Harper.
The teams were sponsored by: Head-Royce School, Chabot Space & Science Museum, Abbott Laboratories, Electronic Arts, Renaker Hasselman LLP, Clorox, and Shelby Designs.
— Shelly Wong, Head-Royce Robohawks