Charlie Wang

Harker Robotics members Mikhil Kiran (11), Arturo Vilalta (11) and Ayden Grover (10) plan their strategy before sending their robot on the field. The team reached the finals at this year’s Capital City Classic alongside alliance partners Eagle Force, Duncan Dynamics and Robodores.

Harker Robotics placed second at this year’s Capital City Classic alongside alliance partners Eagle Force, Duncan Dynamics and Robodores at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove, Calif. from Oct. 26 to 27. 

The competition hosted 51 robotics teams from across California. In this year’s challenge, “Crescendo,” each alliance shot rings into a speaker element to score, slotted them into a slit to speed up scoring and climbed a metal chain for extra points.

On the first day of the event, mechanical and software faults led to the team ranking in the bottom half of all teams. The team fixed most of the major issues and drastically improved the robot’s performance by the next day, resulting in the fourth alliance selecting Harker Robotics and making the playoffs. 

Scouting director Arturo Vilalta (11) managed the process of alliance selection by analyzing other teams’ advantages and pitching Harker’s robot to stronger teams. Despite the robots’ challenges, the team’s tenacious attitude allowed them to keep up their competing spirit, ultimately leading to their strong finish.

“Our perseverance was the most critical part of this entire experience, and it’s definitely one of the values that defines Harker robotics as a whole,” Arturo said. “We came back from a tough first day of matches to place really well in the playoffs, and that holds a lot of value in itself.”

After losing the first playoff match, Harker Robotics’ alliance won the next four games and reached the finals. However, the team ultimately lost to the winning alliance of Citrus Circuits, Bread and The Funky Monkeys, 

Mechanical and machining lead Luka Degoricija (10) highlighted how his first competition experience helped bolster his teamwork skills in preparation for the on-season starting in January.

“This was my first competition, and it was a really great experience and I met a lot of great people,” Luka said. “It made me a better team player as it required a lot more teamwork than normal, and we needed to work together to make everything smooth.”

Executive president Deeya Verma (12) added that the team would simplify the robot next year to reduce the potential for technical issues. Building a less complex robot will enable the team to spend more time testing the robot ahead of competitions.

“When we’re designing our robot, we want to take into account our capabilities,” Deeya said. “Designing a simpler robot will be optimal for our team, especially since we’re going to two regionals where we have a pretty good shot of qualifying for the world championships. We just want to focus on something and do that really well.”