Bots will climb and disks will fly.
Students watch and also compete as TJ’s two robots go against a large group of schools from different states and Mexico. Artwork by Tori Wallace
April 4-6 were the dates of this year’s First Robotics Competition (FRC).
Hosted by Denver University’s Magness Arena, and competed in by TJ’s two robotics teams Sparta Robotica and the Spartans, the FRC was comprised of one day of preparation, and two days of healthy robotic competition. This year’s FRC named Ultimate Ascent required robot aficionados to build robots capable of throwing flying disks into goals, and/or climbing the rungs of a metal pyramid. Both earn a specific amount of points for the three on three robot matches held. For more information about rules, scoring, and regulations visit www.usfirst.org.
TJ’s teams performed admirably, earning 22nd and 34th out of 48 teams. This was fantastic considering the hefty competition TJ found themselves up against. Earlier this year, Sparta Robotica’s team captain Colin Suzuki put it best when he said, “You have some teams that have been there every single year, that know everything possible about robots, and can throw the basic robot together in a day and then build off of that to make it ten times better.” For those interested in rankings, teams, and match results, the free smart phone and tablet app FRC Spyder offers this information.
Over the course of the competition, both of TJ’s teams had some minor problems that they had to assess and fix. Following one of Sparta Robotica’s earliest matches, robotics club co-founder and instructor Stacey Forstrom talked about how TJ could improve their performance for future matches. “Three things need to happen. Colin just got autonomous to work, see that first 15 seconds of the match is not driver controlled, and he had a little problem with that, and he just got it to go, so expect that. And then keep their batteries charged. They need to switch them out, because we’ve got three batteries. After that they need to see on the schedule what bumper color they are for the next match, and get that set up. So, those are the three main things,” said Fornstrom. Both days of competition brought with them new challenges for TJ’s teams to face and overcome. They didn’t crack under the pressure, however, and continued to give it their all every single match.
After one of the Spartans matches, I spoke with TJ senior and Spartans team member Amada Kosial about how her and her team prepare for the inevitable issues they will face when competing against daunting robots. She had this to say: “It’s all just in the moment, you know. The team that your working with may be against you in the next round, but it doesn’t matter. Were all trying to help each other out. Everyone here is really nice. They just want to compete against the best people.”
It has been yet another successful competition for TJ’s robotics club. Considering it’s the first year TJ has had two teams competing, they clearly have gained experience to draw from for the future. Surely after the two team captians (Suzuki and Shehab Ahmed) graduate, they will choose outstanding robotics students to take up there mantle. The robotics program has already grown exponentially since it began three years ago. Hopefully this trend will continue as the years go on. This event warrants an in-depth article, which will be released and accompanied by a pod cast in the weeks to come.
