About Us

Our Team Mission

  • Inspire passion for STEM and FIRST Creatvitiy.

  • Create Problem Solvers.

  • Empower kids with skills for a lifetime.

  • Elevate the community with us.

  • Give back to the the planet.

Our Personal Mission

  • Better oneself by learning new skills.

  • Becoming better and being part of a stronger team.

  • Teach others new skills to help them grow.

  • Inspire at least one kid to become passionate about STEM.

Who We Are

We are a diverse group of 12 girls and boys, in grades 9 to 12 from six different school districts in the New York Hudson Valley region. We are united by a common passion for FIRST, STEM and robotics.

Last year four senior members of our team graduated. This left a large vacancy in our team for leadership and technical knowledge. Our current team was faced with challenges that pushed us to go above and beyond in design, mechanics, programming, outreach and management. The frame design for this years robot was designed by our freshman member which was built and prototyped using Fusion 360, CNC machining and 3D Printing. Our junior and senior members implemented the designs and then fine tuned the design based on their experience. Our drive team consists of both freshman and senior members to help pass down knowledge. Again in the programming group, a junior member and a sophomore member work together to build the autonomous. A freshmen wrote our website using only HTML and CSS. Our documentation team rose to the challenge and have documented the engineering and outreach notebook using Latex and Overleaf. They encourage all of team members to document their ideas and progress. Looking back at this year's progress we find that the “Freshman Designed, Senior Tested” approach brings out creativity from all members of the team, is very inclusive, and helps share knowledge and practical experience to all members of the team.

An important part of being a member of Team Robocracy is making time for our robust outreach in the community. We seek to empower other kids to develop STEM skills that they can use for the rest of their lives, building their own resilience. We started the first FTC camp in Hudson Valley, we teach FLL camps, and run after school enrichment programs targeting underserved communities. We are also very active within our FTC community, aware that when another team excels, we all win. We open source our solutions, mentor other teams, and share ideas with other teams through online chats. After refurbishing old computers, we've donated eight computers to impoverished schools in Haiti and plan on donating eight more to the Dominican Republic, loaded with educational programming. We are developing their awareness of STEM and FIRST. We each strive to learn two new skills during the season and we have a strong culture of mentoring each other. This protects the team from losing skills when our members graduate.

We are very grateful for our membership in 4H, which has enabled us to reach many communities that would otherwise not be exposed to STEM and robotics. 4H also gives us access to important resources such as advertisement, Lego Mindstorm kits, and liability insurance for our workshops. This is our second year running an FLL team in Traphagen, which has the second lowest math scores in the country. We want to help improve their scores. As the only STEM-based 4H club in our area, we also take seriously our role of promoting and inspiring interest in STEM at fairs and in all of the outreach we do.

Past Team Members

Alonso

Team Captain, joined in 2015.

I am 16 years old, and I currently attend Lakeland High School. I joined the team through a summer camp held by our team. By learning and listening to senior members explain various ideas I gained the experience needed to become the captain of the team. Through my accomplishments throughout my four years of being on the team, I was also able to become a Dean's List Semi Finalist. Some of my hobbies outside of robotics include playing the trumpet, and participating in my school’s track and field team.This year my goal is to become a better leader and to hone my wiring skills and strengthen my understanding of electronics.

Aman

Joined in 2017.

This year will be my third year on the team. I am a Sophmore at Monroe Woodbury High School. This season I am using my CAD skills that I learned from the last two years and to CAD different mechanisms of this year’s robot. I play the trombone in my school band, the guitar, and the Tabla Indian drums in my free time. I am also a long-distance runner. I run on my school’s cross country, indoor track, and spring track team. I joined FTC because I played with LEGO Mindstorms and was part of an FLL team, and I wanted to take it further.My goals this year are to help CAD parts of the robot and use power tools safely and efficiently.

Deeya

Joined in 2017.

I am a 16 year old junior at Hackley School. I enjoy playing volleyball and I have been dancing for more than ten years. I have been playing the flute and piano since early age and in my spare time. I love drawing and traveling. Prior to this team, I was on an FLL team for three years. This is my third year being a member of Robocracy, and I am very excited to be part of the team. I’ve joined FTC to further my knowledge in building and programming and I hope to be an effective team member.

Cadence

Joined in 2018.

I am a Junior at Horace Greeley High School. When not helping with the team, I enjoy learning computer science, physics, programming, and playing both the violin and piano.

My goals this year are to become a strong leader for the programming team, and to learn how to approach programming for a physical machine, rather than a virtual environment.

Divek

Joined in 2018.

I am 15 years old in 10th Grade at Hackley High School. This is my second year on Robocracy 9773. I play soccer year round and started it when I was 4 years old. I also play guitar and drums for my school band and individual competitions. My favorite subjects are chemistry and math, and in my spare time I enjoy playing video games and expanding my knowledge on java. I have done FLL for 3 years before FTC, and I am very glad I am part of this team.

Since last season, my role on the team has changed. I am part of the programming team this year, and with the help of Cadence, I integrated my knowledge of java into FTC programming.

My goal this year is to continue to expand my knowledge in programming and to understand the complex algorithms our team uses for the robot.

Ian

Joined in 2019.

I am 14 and I am in 9th grade. This is my first year on Team Robocracy. My experience with FIRST before joining Robocracy is five years on the FLL team Team STUBBY. Some of my other interests are soccer, math, and piano. I am also a mentor for the new team members on Team STUBBY. I play piano and have done NYSSMA for the past six years.

I joined FTC because I enjoy building and engineering and I wanted to take the next step in FIRST. My goal this year is to learn the ins and outs of FTC, while helping with some of the building.

Joey

Joined in 2019.

I started as a new member this year and I have previous robotics experience with VEX Robotics and FLL. I enjoy driving RC cars, playing ping pong, and playing on the XBox in my spare time. I also enjoy driving and building in robotics.

This year I would like to become better at CAD design and understanding electronics.

Karan

Joined in 2019.

I am 14 years old, and a freshman at Briarcliff High School. This is my first year on FTC Robocracy 9773, but I have had experience with robotics in the past by participating in an FLL team. In addition to robotics, I play soccer, tennis and the violin. I have been playing soccer since I was five and currently on my school's JV soccer team. Regarding music, I have played the violin since 4th grade and this year I am attempting a Level VI NYSSMA piece.

I joined FTC because I wanted to learn more about various building techniques and especially how to CAD. My goal this year is to use the knowledge that I had brought with me from FLL to learn more about complex building strategies, and further develop my knowledge of engineering and robotics.

Mitziki

Joined in 2015.

I am a 6 1/2 year old Coton de Tulear and have been team mascot for several years. I am a wonderful distraction. I take seriously my job, doing my best to make everyone smile. In fact, my name, Mitsiky, means "My Smile" in Malagasy. My favorite hobbies are visiting chipmunk holes, playing tug-of-war with my toy bunny, and just being cute.

My goal this year is to earn my degree as a Therapy Dog so that I can participate in the team’s outreach and make everyone feel good by flashing my warm smile. Also, I hope to finally catch a squirrel.