The Ossining O-Bots, team 4122, had a victorious three days in their second FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Competition. Taking place in Hofstra University, teams come from around the globe and the tri-state area to participate. Team 4122 had some formidable opponents, some of whom had already been faced at the NYC First Competition in the Javits Center.

However, the Ossining O-Bots were not pleased with their performance in NYC. Therefore, on the first day, out of materials brought along, the head mechanic, Klyde Bacalan, and several others, spent three hours creating a new, more compact robot out of scratch. Any veteran team can tell a spectator that this is no small feat; a lot of elements create a robot, from the electronics to the physical metal pieces. Similarly, the new robot looked nothing like Coconut, the first robot, or any of the other robots created by other teams.

The second robot was a fourth of the size of every other robot present. However, differences in abilities were now present; it could get over every obstacle presented in this year’s challenge, Stronghold. Talents also present were the ability to quickly provide shooting robots with a barrage of balls. As these robotic characteristics were revealed, it shot to the top of the 55 team leader board. While this was fantastic, Team 4122 was unfortunately not chosen for one of the eight three team alliances.

Despite not placing a finalist in the competition, Team 4122 was not out of the fight yet. Many awards were still available for them to win. Previously, Ossining has won many of the rookie awards, was a finalist in the competition’s winning alliance, and had a Dean’s List finalist. This year, the team has started many initiatives, such as the push for a Hudson Valley Regional. They also helped mentor several younger teams, as well as assist in the younger schools in the district during Hour of Code. The team’s heavy involvement in the community spreading STEM (science, math, engineering, and technology) led to the huge panel of judges rewarding them with the coveted Judge’s Award. However, the awards were not over for the team yet. Celine Khoo, junior, head electrician, and vice president of the club, was soon to be acknowledged. Each team submits two members for consideration of the Dean’s List award, an award for people who demonstrated leadership and STEM initiative within their community. Celine was one of two finalists in a selection pool of over 100 people. She will travel in late April to St. Louis, where the world championships take place for First Robotics Competition.

Now, the season is officially over for the team. However, you’ll find them in the downstairs science wing working on their electric car. You’ll also find them presenting at events like the Westchester Engineering Expo, and working to get their robots into various local museums for interactive demonstrations. On May 25th, at 6:30 pm, they’ll be hosting their first ever Engineering Night in the Ossining High School library and cafeteria, where they will be honoring their seniors and all those who made this year possible. They would love to see teachers and possible new student members there.