The 2019-20 FTC challenge was called SkyStone. To see the full challenge, check out the FTC game animation.
Both teams competed at the January 18th qualifying tournament in Santa Clara with the following results:
MidKnight Madness #7854 won:
- 1st place Inspire Award given to the team that best embodies the ‘challenge’ of the FIRST Tech Challenge program and is a gracious competitor. With this top place award, Team 7854 qualified to compete in the NorCal Championship tournament competing against 56 of the top teams in the Bay Area.
- 2nd place Connect Award connecting with their local STEM community to explore opportunities available in engineering, science and technology as well as helping their community understand FIRST robotics.
- 2nd place Design Award which recognizes their robot's design elements that are both functional and aesthetic and that incorporates industrial design elements into their solution.
- Captain of the 4th seed alliance
At their first qualifying tournament on November 23rd at Cisco, the teams won the following awards:
MidKnight Madness #7854 won:
- 1st place Think Award for their engineering notebook
- 2nd place Design Award for robot's design elements
- 3rd place Inspire Award given to the team that best embodies the ‘challenge’ of the FIRST Tech
Challenge program and is a gracious competitor.
MidKnight Mayhem #15385 won:
- 1st place Design Award which recognizes their robot's design elements that are both functional and aesthetic and that incorporates industrial design elements into their solution.
- 2nd place Robot Game as the finalist alliance
- 2nd place Connect Award connecting with their local STEM community to explore opportunities available in engineering, science and technology as well as helping their community understand FIRST robotics.
Both teams successfully qualified to compete in the NorCal Championship based on their accomplishments at the qualifying tournaments. Championships were held on March 3rd at Independence High School in San Jose.
At the December 8th tournament at Google, both teams' robots performed so well that they were selected as alliance partners to compete in semi-final rounds.
- 1st place Connect Award for connecting with their local STEM community to explore opportunities available in engineering, science and technology as well as helping their community understand FIRST robotics.
MidKnight Madness #7854 won: - 1st place Innovate Award for their out-of-the box thinking and most creative design solution
- 2nd place Think Award for their engineering notebook
- 2nd place Robot Game as Finalist partner
MidKnight Madness #7854 won their semis match in this exciting video below (2.5 min) to advance to the finals round. In the first 30 seconds, robots score points in autonomous mode (no driver) by deploying from the center lander and correctly detecting a gold mineral (yellow block). Then drivers use robots to acquire gold and silver minerals (white balls), deposit minerals in the lander and finally reattach to the lander at the end of the game.
- 1st Place Think Award for their engineering notebook
- 2nd Place Connect Award for connecting to STEM community
Last year's TKA's MidKnight Madness team had fifteen students, grades 9th-12th, including ten rookie members. FTC challenges students to design, build, program, and drive robots (no larger than 18"-cubed) in a game played by two alliances of two robots each.
The challenge for the 2017-18 FTC season was FIRST Relic Recovery, a 150-second game to score a variety of points during both autonomous (pre-programmed) and driver-controlled periods. To see the full challenge, check out the FTC game animation.
At the February 3rd, 2018 robotics tournament in Daly City, TKA's MidKnight Madness won
- 1st place Inspire Award for overall performance (being a strong FIRST ambassador and role model for other teams)
- 3rd place Think Award for their Engineering Notebook (documenting their design process to remove obstacles through creative thinking)
- 3rd place Connect Award for community outreach and business plan
At the December 2nd, 2017 tournament at Google, the team won
- 1st place in the Robot Game as the Captain of the Winning Alliance
- 1st place Design Award for the best industrial design
- 2nd place Innovate Award for most creative design
The team advanced to compete in Northern California Championships in February, 2018.
Watch this exciting video of one of their final matches below, won by TKA #7854 and their partner from St. Mary's school in Berkeley #11575. In the first 30 seconds, the robots score points in autonomous mode (no driver), followed by two minutes of stacking blocks in patterns and their partner successfully scoring a game element outside the field.
FIRST encourages teams to promote robotics in their community. The TKA high school team designed a game for the TKA Carnival in October that required participants to race robots through an obstacle course. The team has also demonstrated our bots at TKA Open Houses and STEM Events in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. This past summer, several team members mentored elementary students at robotics summer camps in Sunnyvale and Cupertino.
In the 2016-2017 season, TKA's MidKnight Madness team had fifteen students, grades 9th-12th, including four rookie members. The team qualified for the NorCal Regionals and won the following awards at their first two tournaments in the 2016-17 season:
2nd Place - Finalist Alliance for the robot game (both tournaments)
1st Place - Think Award for their Engineering Notebook (documenting their design process to remove obstacles through creative thinking)
2nd Place - Inspire Award for overall team performance (being a strong FIRST ambassador and role model for other teams)
This two-minute video highlights TKA's bot #7854 scoring in the robot game by detecting/scoring colored beacons, launching balls in center goals, as well as placing their large cap ball on the center goal.
At the NorCal Regionals tournament in February, our team's lead mentor, Randy Andrews, won the Compass Award for his outstanding guidance and support. The team submitted this one-minute video to highlight how Mr. Andrews has inspired the team since they started three years ago. Congratulations Mr. Andrews!
The MidKnight Madness 2015-16 team had fifteen students, grades 10th-12th, including four rookie members.
The team won the following awards at their first two tournaments in the 2015-16 season, which qualified them to attend Regionals:
- 1st Place - Captain of the Winning Alliance for the robot game
- 1st Place - PTC Design Award for implementing industrial design principles that differentiate the robot's aesthetics and functionality
- 3rd Place - Inspire Award for overall team performance
At the Northern California Regional Championship in February 2016, MidKnight Madness finished in 3rd place in the Robot Game within their 24-team division.
View this exciting video (2 min.) from one of the semi-finals rounds of the FIRST Tech Challenge qualifier tournament (Jan. 23, 2016). TKA's bot #7854 is partnered with Notre Dames #7593, and the video shows both teams scoring "climbers" in a rescue shelter, then TKA climbs the mountain and successfully hangs from the high cliff bar.
The 2014-2015 team had fifteen students from grades 9 through 12. Five students had prior experience in robotics and were graduates from FIRST LEGO League (FLL). Three of those students also had experience in FTC and transferred their knowledge to The King’s Academy sponsored team. In addition, we had two teachers who served as coaches, and four adults as mentors.
We competed in multiple FTC tournaments and won the following awards at the January 24th, 2015 tournament:
- Winner of Innovate Award - most innovative, out-of-the-box robot design
- 2nd Place Robot Game - Captain of Finalist Alliance
- 3rd Place Inspire Award - overall achievement
Congratulations MidKnight Madness on their inaugural season!!
TKA's Junior High students participated in FIRST LEGO League (FLL) the past two years. Being on an FLL team is more than just building with Legos. Students work closely with their team to build and program an autonomous robot, do a research project on a real-world problem, and prepare a presentation of their solution, all while having lots of fun. Robots are built and programmed using the LEGO MINDSTORM platform. The Master's Builder's team in 2015 was comprised of 10 students, grades 6th to 8th. Junior High students now have the opportunity to take a Robotics/Engineering elective.
TKA had two on-campus Junior High teams in 2014 coached by TKA staff and four off-campus teams coached by TKA parents. They all competed in local FLL tournaments.
Team #7854
This 2014-2015 team has 15 students from grades 9 through 12. Five students have prior experience in robotics and are graduates from FLL. Three of those students have one year of experience in FTC and are transferring their knowledge to The King’s Academy sponsored team. We also have two teachers who serve as coaches, and 4 adults as mentors. We are currently using 2 of the classrooms at The King’s Academy. We are planning to compete in FTC tournaments.