Z i R c o n i u M

We are the IIS Pacinotti-Archimede's ZR team, based in Rome - Italy.

This is our fourth year in Zero Robotics Competitions, but only the third in the International High School Competition.

Our team is composed of 14 students.
Some of us are studying information technology and software programming, some electronics and robotics, others physics and mathematics. The team works combining the knowledge and skills of each guy to get the best solution.

This year we faced off against other Zero Robotics teams from High Schools based in USA, Mexico, Europe, Russia and Australia in a programming challenge called:       SPACE-S (Satellite Positioning and Constructing Entities - SPHERES)
the Zero Robotics High School Tournament 2016.

Why our name?
We chose   Z i R c  o  n  i  u M   because it is a corrosion resistant metal that is used in high performance pumps and valves. We found that the NSI (NASA Standard Initiator) used in 2000 (maybe it's still using) as its propellant a mixture with finely powdered Zirconium metal for almost the 52% by weight.
So we capitalized "ZR" that is the acronym of "Zero Robotics" and also the symbol of Zirconium on periodic table, and "RM" that is the code of our city, Rome.

Zirconium is a chemical element with atomic number 40.
Maybe it be for this reason that we ranked 40th in our first ZRHS Tournament?

Give a look to the unbelievable ZRHS2014 3D Competition Leaderboard
In that competition we advanced to the Alliance Phase with Teams:

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Stuy-Naught Cadets of Space

Stuyvesant High School   Colegiului National de Informatica

New York   Piatra-Neamt

USA   Romania

StuyZirconiumCadets   alliance ranked third in the Virtual Championship.

Next year we ranked 41st (40+1year) in ZRHS2015 3D Competition and we advanced to the Alliance Phase joining with Teams:

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Paly Robotics Space Eagles

Palo Alto High School   El Segundo High School

Palo Alto   El Segundo

USA   USA

ZiRconiuM_Paly_Eagles   alliance ranked 23rd in the Alliance Phase, but thanks
to our tireless allied team mates we resulted ...   2015 Virtual Finals Champion

This year we ... miscalculated !
We ranked 81st (40*2years+1) in ZRHS2016 3D Competition , but we advanced to the Alliance Phase joining with Teams:

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Da Vinci Boys NCSSM Zero Robotics

ITI L. Da Vinci   North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

Trapani   Durham(NC)

Italy   USA

Vinci-NCSSM-ZRM !!!   alliance ranked 11rd in the Alliance Phase, so thanks
to our tireless allied team mates (from Sicily, above all), we resulted . . .