Southampton robotics: Ready to compete

The Southampton High School robotics team, Team 9646 Marinators, have been working diligently to prepare for their first competition of the season — the FIRST Robotics Long Island Regional Competition at Hofstra University on March 20-22.

This is the second year that the team will be competing. During their inaugural season, they received the Rookie All-Star Inspiration Award. This year, they are in the running to hopefully win the Impact Award, one of the most prestigious awards that FIRST Robotics offers. 

“We are looking forward to the competition this year,” said team mentor and Assistant Principal Melissa Mitchell.

Led by team president Sarah Barros and vice president Jacob Warden, the Marinators have been working since early January to build a competitive robot that will meet this year’s challenge, “Reefscape.” Robots must form alliances with other teams and work to “harvest algae,” “seed coral” and “ascend to the ocean surface.”

In addition to constructing their robot, the team has been giving back to the community through service projects. Barros was recently interviewed by several news outlets for the work she has been doing to build a prosthetic leg for a three-legged dog at a local animal shelter. The team is always looking for more ways to get involved in the community.

To find out more about the Marinators, visit https://link.edgepilot.com/s/442115be/TtmgMERTakW8wfljU00uJg?u=http://marinators9646.org/.