Education

Fort Myers-based robotics team wins World Championship

Fort Myers-based FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team Java The Hutts, part of the I Will Mentorship Foundation, has won the World Championship competition held in Houston, Texas, April 20-23.

Java The Hutts is part of the winning alliance comprising of three teams — the other two teams are from Romania (Alliance Captain) and Longmont, Colorado. A total of 160 teams from all over the world including 44 states in the USA competed in the 4-day robotics competition.

At the end of eight qualification rounds, Java The Hutts was placed 12th in the division (consisting of 80 teams) and was selected by the first seeded team for the division, Delta Force from Romania, to form an alliance along with Up-A-Creek Robotics from Longmont, Colorado.

The 3-team alliance dominated the division semifinals and division finals and moved on to the overall tournament finals to face the opposing division (another group of 80 teams) finalist. Some of the top-most and very experienced teams played in the semifinal and finals matches.

Despite being at Worlds for the first time, Java The Hutts helped its alliance rise to become the tournament champions, winning the best of three playoff matches. In addition, Java The Hutts was also named as a finalist for the Innovate Award which recognizes teams that have the most innovative and creative robot design solution to any specific components in the FIRST Tech Challenge game.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a global robotics community with teams spread across 110 countries, with primary focus on advancing STEM education. FIRST Tech Challenge is a category of robotics competition developed by FIRST covering grades 7 through 12. Teams design, build and program a robot to compete in an alliance format against other teams.

The 2021-2022 FTC competition is primarily sponsored by Qualcomm Incorporated and Raytheon Technologies.

Prior to the World Championship, Java The Hutts competed in the Florida State Championship March 5 at Winter Haven, Fla., representing the Gulf Coast league and winning the topmost award (at both the league and state level).

The Inspire Award is given to the team that is a top contender for many other judged awards and is a gracious competitor. The award winner is an inspiration to other teams by sharing their experiences, enthusiasm and knowledge with their community, sponsors, other teams and the judges.

Java The Hutts has been busy this season not only building and programming its top-notch robot but also conducting over 40 individual outreach activities. The activities include robot demonstrations, media presentations (TV news, magazine and radio), hosting STEM summer camps, coaching other local teams and spreading STEM education in the community.

Java The Hutts current team members are from three different Lee County schools – Fort Myers High School (Dhruva Sharma, Cayden Keene, Kyle Keene), Bonita Springs High School (Robbie Stewart, Joaquin Konicek) and Dunbar High School (Advaith Menon).

Java The Hutts invited two team members from one of its mentor teams out of Naples to join them at the World Competition.

The goal of I Will Mentorship Foundation is to bring E-STEM programs to those who live in communities with schools that are underfunded and de-prioritized. Working under the I Will Mentorship Foundation, Java The Hutts is focused on spreading awareness of robotics and helping more students to be involved in STEM and robotics programs.

To learn more about team #14725 Java The Hutts, and its impact in Southwest Florida, visit www.javathehutts.org.

More information about FIRST can be found at https://www.firstinspires.org/