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The Ithaca High School’s FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) Robotics Team 639, Code Red Robotics, won the Buckeye Regional Competition, held March 28th - 30th in Cleveland, Ohio. During qualification matches, Code Red seeded second of 53 teams. Then, paired with FIRST teams 2252 and 2834, Code Red advanced to the finals where they secured the win and the title of Regional Champions. “This is an incredible and hard earned accomplishment for Code Red.” said Istvan Burbank, team president and I.H.S. senior. The team plans to attend the World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, April 25-28, as they did in 2012.

On Thursday, March 28, 50 Ithaca High students and ten adults boarded a bus at 1:00 a.m.and drove six hours to Cleveland, Ohio. Once the team arrived at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University, they unloaded a 120 pound robot from the bus to compete along with 52 other robotics teams from across the United States and Canada. Each team was competing with a robot they had built in six weeks for the same challenge; a game called Ultimate Ascent. The objective is to score as many Frisbee discs into targets as possible, and to climb a 120-inch pyramid constructed from metal tubes.

Matches are played by three teams randomly placed in alliances for each of 89 qualification matches.  Rankings are then calculated based on how many points they score and how many matches they win. After winning nine of their ten matches, Code Red was ranked second seed out of all the teams at the regional, earning them the title of Alliance Captain going into the final elimination rounds. Code Red requested the help of FIRST team 2252, the Mavericks from Milan, OH, and FIRST team 2834, the Bionic Barons from Bloomfield Hills, MI, and went undefeated in six best-of-three elimination rounds against the 7th, 3rd, and 1st seeded alliances.

Code Red is composed of 65 high school students, about 20 professional mentors and alumni, and many parent volunteers. Participation in FIRST and regional competitions is made possible with support from Ithaca High School, the Ithaca City School District, the community and local sponsors including Kionix, BAE Systems, BorgWarner Morse TEC, CBORD, Autodesk,  Incodema, Vector Magnetics, GORGES, VFW Post 961, Goodrich ISR, U-Haul of Ithaca, Accufab, Purity Ice Cream and Cayuga Lumber.

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