About Us
FRC Team 271, the Mechanical Marauders, is the FIRST Robotics Competition team of Bay Shore High School in Bay Shore, New York. Each season, students in grades 7 to 12 from Bay Shore Middle School and Bay Shore Senior High School design, build, program and compete with a robot, guided by mentors who are mostly team alumni.
Our Story
- 1998
Founded as the Bell Atlantic Robotics Team (B.A.R.T.). A Bell Atlantic grant built the team’s first robot.
- 1999
The team’s first FIRST Robotics Competition season. The team registered but was unable to compete.
- 2000
The team’s first year of competition, and the Mechanical Marauders name is born.
- 2001
The Imagery Award, the start of 11 straight seasons with a FIRST award (2001–2011).
- 2002
FIRST Championship division finalist, the team’s best Championship finish.
- 2005–
2010Six FIRST Championship appearances in a row.
- 2006
First regional win, at the SBPLI Long Island Regional, then a Championship semifinal.
The 2006 SBPLI Long Island Regional winners at Hofstra University. - 2010
A second SBPLI Long Island Regional win.
- 2014
The Engineering Awards Quinfecta: the 47th team in FIRST history to win all five robot-design awards.
- 2017
The team begins working with elementary students.
- 2019
Finger Lakes Regional winners, then a FIRST Championship semifinal. Since 2019–2020 the team has had a dedicated robotics classroom at Bay Shore High School.
- 2026
The 2026–2027 season is the team’s 29th.
Record and Awards
In March 2014 Team 271 became the 47th team in FIRST history to win all five robot-design awards: Industrial Design (2003), Excellence in Engineering (2007), Innovation in Control (2008), Creativity (2009) and Quality (2014).
Beyond the Official Record
Event wins
- Brunswick Eruption: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2016
- Duel on the Delaware: 2012, 2017, 2019
- Deer Park Invitational: 2008, 2010
- Mayhem on the Merrimack: 2002
- BattleCry@WPI: 2007
- Monty Madness: 2008
- Ramp Riot: 2010
- NYC Robo Replay and the Kenneth R. Vessey Invitational: 2025, both with our second robot
Finalist
- Deer Park Invitational: 2006, 2007, 2011
- Half Hollow Hills Invitational: 2013, 2014
- Monty Madness: 2006
- BattleCry@WPI: 2026
Awards
- The Purple Heart, a judges’ award, at BattleCry@WPI (2006)
- Best Autonomous Mode at the Brunswick Eruption (2007)
- Most Improved Team at NYC Robo Replay (2026)
- Most Improved Team from Team 1507 Warlocks at the Finger Lakes Regional (2026), a team-given award
- Best Digsite from Team 3173 IgKnighters at the Finger Lakes Regional (2026), a team-given award
- Best Push from Team 3940 at the New York City Regional (2014), a team-given award
- Best Breacher from Team 1126 at the Finger Lakes Regional (2016), a team-given award
- #1 Seed award at the Brunswick Eruption (2008) and at Ramp Riot (2011)
Community
The Duel on the Delaware book drive: shared runner-up in 2014, second in 2015, and winner in 2016 of the Miracle of Reading Education Community Service Award.
The Brunswick Eruption food drive: winner, with its award, in 2025 and 2026.
In the 2025–26 season we manufactured parts for FRC Team 10621 Crusaders, a young team from Glen Head, for the FIRST Long Island Regional.
Off-season events are hosted by other teams, not by FIRST, and team-given awards come from other teams, so these results are not part of the official FIRST record above.
How the Team Works
Subteams
Every student joins one primary subteam: Hardware Design, Hardware Fabrication, Electrical, Software Robot or Software Scouting. The secondary subteams, Business and Media, Strategy and the Impact Award, are optional and open to everyone.
Leadership
Core Leadership is the Lead Mentors, the Captain and the Co-Captain. Student Leadership, the captains and every subteam lead, meets each week with the Lead Mentors. Student leaders apply or are nominated, are interviewed, and are chosen by Core Leadership.
The Shop
The shop has a CNC router, lathes, a mill and 3D printers; students design in Onshape and plan machining in Fusion 360. Our 2026 robot: a ball launcher on a swerve drive, designed in Onshape and programmed in Java.
Scholarships
The team tries to give at least three scholarships each year, between the Peter Mathews Memorial Scholarship, named for a Team 271 student, alumnus and mentor, and the Entrepreneur Scholarship; the number and amount vary with each year’s fundraising. Typically 100% of our seniors receive some form of scholarship. Read about our scholarships.
We also remember the mentors we have lost: In Memoriam.
New members are always welcome.