Our History

      The Windward School Robotics has been part of the FIRST program since 2004. Since then, the robotics program has grown from a small student club group to a much larger sophisticated program. In 2004, the robotics program started out competing for FRC. In 2008, we opened up the option to compete in FLL and have been participating in FLL since. In 2010, we competed in FRC winning Long Beach Regional Championships. In 2012, the Windward School Robotics established its robotics team name to be the “Omnicats” and created an updated slogan, “Student Designed, Student Built”.  Throughout the course of our expansion, we have not only grown in size but also in recognition within our school’s community as well as the FIRST community in Los Angeles. ​

2015 Chairman's Video
​Over time, we gained sponsorships from The Boeing Company and Windward Institute.. We also initiated an expansion of our program to include more hands-on experiences with the 21st century technology such as 3D printing and Autodesk CAD. Every year, we are striving to expand our program and add to our WIndward School Robotic’s History. Windward currently offers robotics for 7th – 12th graders.  7th grade students learn how to construct and program an autonomous robot using LEGO Mindstorms technology, and compete in the FIRST Lego League (FLL).  8th-11th grade students use the VEX Robotics platform, ROBOT C technology, and Project Lead the Way curriculum to develop and hone skills in Engineering, Design, and Robotics.  The culminating experience for Windward Robotics is participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

Team Organization
     As Omnicats, we firmly abide by our slogan, “Student Designed. Student Built.”. We uphold this slogan because we want to engage in a learning experience that is independent from professional mentors so that we can express our ideas freely and work in an environment where we learn from our mistakes. This learning experience has encouraged us to step outside of our comfort zone and work more with our teammates since we are “student run”. Our team is organized into 7 subgroups: mechanism, electrical, programming, quartermaster and safety, PR, communication, and Chairman’s Award. Each group have a specific task to complete. Before and after we work on our task, we have a Scrum session. Scrum is a session where we discuss our goals, plans, and collaborations within subgroups for the day and week. This structure allows us to have a  student run group run efficiently and host a dynamic environment.

Achievements

Team 1452
     2004 Los Angeles Regional: Rookie Inspiration Award
​     2010 Los Angeles Regional: Winner
     2016 Los Angeles Regional: Semi-Finalists
     2016 Los Angeles Fall Classic: Judge's Award


Windward VEX Robotics
      2012 Northern San Diego Regional: Think Award
      2013 Windward Early Scrimmage: Amaze Award
      2013 Northern San Diego Regional: Tournament Champion, Programming Challenge Winner, Think Award, Sportsmanship Award, Safety                     Award
     2016 Chaminade Nothing But Net VEX Tournament: Judges Award


Robotics Events Hosted at Windward School
      Fall 2014: Windward School VEX Tournament
      Fall 2014: Southern California Regional Robotics Forum
      Fall 2014: Windward School FLL Practice Tournament
      Fall 2013: Windward School FLL Practice Tournament
      Spring 2013: Windward VEX Early Scrimmage & Windward Lego Robotics Spring Friendly
      Fall 2012: Windward School Lego Robotics Spring Friendly
      Fall 2011: Los Angeles Independent School Robotics Teachers Colloquia