The Bonny Eagle Robotics Team – and their robot BOUNT-e “the quicker picker upper” – finished first at a regional robotics competition March 21-22 at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center Arena.

Ranked ninth out of 40 teams going into the quarterfinals, Bonny Eagle formed an alliance with teams from Manchester, N.H. and Keene, N.H., for the quarterfinal round. This underdog alliance played five finals-qualifying matches and gained enough points for a spot in the finals. There, the alliance defeated the No. 1 ranked alliance of South Portland, Brewer and Clinton, Mass.

In addition to the first place finalist award, Bonny Eagle received the Team Spirit Award sponsored by Chrysler celebrating extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork furthering the objectives of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which aims to help high school students become more involved with science, technology, engineering and math.

The team also won the 2015 Safety Animation Award sponsored by Underwriter’s Laboratories. This award recognizes the team that submits a short animated film that best promotes the team’s safety focus. BERT’s 40 second animation was selected from 198 other safety videos made by some of FIRST’s 2,908 teams worldwide and will be shown at more than 100 FIRST Events internationally. The video was self-directed, created, and produced by the team’s student media production crew.

FIRST creates a game each year in which teams of students, parents, engineers and mentors have six weeks to design and build a competition robot. This season’s game announcement and kickoff was Jan. 3. Bonny Eagle’s next competition is the New England District Championship, which takes place in Worcester, Mass., at the WPI Sports and Recreation Center April 9-11. Admission is free.

Bonny Eagle’s fundraising goal this year is $42,000, which will enable their 32 team members full participation in district competitions, district championship and the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, Mo., April 22-25. All tax-free donations can be sent to: Bonny Eagle Robotics Team, c/o Bonny Eagle High School, 700 Saco Road, Standish, Maine 04084.

The Bonny Eagle Robotics Team, seen at left, pose with other members of a three-team alliance that won a regional robotics competition at the University of New Hampshire last weekend.Courtesy photo