By Jennifer Glickel and Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo Staff
MIDTOWN WEST — A Manhattan high school team of robotics whizzes beat out more than 60 teams and will compete in the finals of the FIRST Robotic League.
Students from Stuyvesant High School's "Stuypulse" robotics team will advance to the national finals in Atlanta on April 15 – 17.
More than 60 teams competed in the regional robotics competition at the Javits Center March 12 – 14.
"There are teams from all over the world here. We're actually right next to a team from Brazil," said Betsy Soukup, the president of the Stuyvesant team. "So I think we're really doing our borough proud by being such a good team so I'm really proud to be here."
The FIRST Robotic League — FIRST is For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology — is a national competition that teaches students to build robots using science, engineering and technology skills.
The teams had just a couple of months to build robots that could shoot soccer balls into goals.
"There are 12 soccer balls on the field and four goals two on opposite sides, Soukup said "Our robot does two different things, combined that makes us one of the most competitive teams out here because some robots can hang some can kick but not very many can do both."
