Staten Island Technical High School

It's not a sure shot, but the more than two dozen students on Staten Island Technical High School's robotics team says the robot they built to shoot hoops can hold its own on the court.

On Tuesday, the team showed off the machine, which they built from scratch and runs on a computer program they developed.

"The robot uses a combination of program and sensors to figure out where that hoop is and how high it needs to shoot," said Alex Grin, a Staten Island Tech student. "It doesn't work 100 percent, you pretty much can't get it to work 100 percent, but it does work most of the time."

The invention made them champions at the regional robotics competition held earlier this year.

That's not all they've been busy doing. Inspired by the many people who have donated time and money to make their robotics team possible, the students are now focusing on giving back to the community.

They started a recycling program, donated supplies and money to support U.S. troops overseas and are now planning to work with groups that help the disabled

One of the people they are working with is Gregory Brown, an 11-year-old with a rare degenerative muscle disorder.

"There's all kinds of adaptive devices that can be created to help him do the things that everyone else can do normally on their own," said Carol Brown, Gregory's mother.

"We're a world that needs life support, never mind conquering," said Mark Erlenwein, Staten Island Tech's assistant principal. "These are the students who are going to make those changes and those differences."

Staten Island tech was recently ranked 13th in the nation for math and science by US News and World Report.

Graduating senior Flora Tan, one of just three girls on the robotics team, is attending MIT in the fall. She is one of five seniors graduating.

Most of the team will be back next year, though. They say they've got plenty of work to do.