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Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

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Robotics team competes in annual FIRST event

Robotics team competes in annual FIRST event

Every year for a weekend in March, hundreds of high school students gather at the Event Center at San Jose State University to compete in the Silicon Valley Regional robotics competition, one of many regional tournaments run by For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST).

The Upper School robotics team, number 1072, competed in the March 20 to 21 tournament against 50 other local teams, but did not place in the top teams.
“[There were] problems with rule changes that we had to adapt to in a hurry,” Dr. Eric Nelson, Computer Science Chair and Robotics faculty advisor, said.

“A lot of little [problems] accumulated,” Nelson said. “We tripped over our shoelaces a couple of times, but most of the issues were not really in [the team’s] control.”

This year, FIRST’s competition divided the arena space into three vertical zones, and robots had to climb over hills and maneuver through tunnels to push soccer balls into four corner goals. The teams are randomly assigned into alliances of three robots each. Following the assignment, two of the alliances competed against each other in multiple two-minute rounds.

Led by President Andrea Lincoln (12) this year, the team has worked long hours in the six weeks before competition known as the “Build” period.
“We spend a lot of time together, so it’s pretty fun doing what we like, and it’s a really great experience,” Jason Yu (10) said. Jason is one of the team’s two drivers, who control the robot from just outside the arena during the competition rounds.

Other teams, likewise, have invested many long hours into this competition. “It is as mentor while tell you, a big time sink, but it’s totally worth it,” a mentor of a team from Marine County, said. “It’s very rewarding. We’re all in it because we love doing it despite the incredible hours.”

At this regional, the team was able to identify many of its weaknesses and iron out errors, so members look forward to the tournament at the University of California, Davis, which takes place during Spring Break.

“We’re sort of all ready now to do what we need to do, and do better at Davis,” Jason said. “The competition was really fierce [at the Silicon Valley tournament].”

Similarly, Nelson said that in the ten-day period between the competitions, “we’ll get a chance to do some experiments in our lab, and get some road time to figure out how to overcome some problems.” One major issue the team encountered, for instance, was the problem of the soccer ball rolling underneath the robot.

Despite these issues, Nelson felt that “the team worked very well together; they’ve got a good management structure. There was a great deal of focus and everyone knew what their job was.” Working with Andrea are Operations President Allika Walvekar (11) and Technical President Mark-Philip Pebworth (12), along with Mechanical head Douglas Hutchings (11), Electrical heads Paul West (10) and Jay Reddy (10), and Programming head Alexander Fotland (12).

“Build is great, but when you get thrust into the competition, it’s even better. As a freshman, that’s where I really got inspired to do this – seeing other teams that were so into it,” Allika said. She especially enjoys the excitement of the high-stress environment on competition days. “It’s a crazy world,” she said.

Similarly, students from Gunn High school also enjoy the “high-stress” buildup around competition days. They have a tradition where they dye their hair red before big games, and a member from the team said, “Team spirit is extremely important. Around school, we look hilarious [with our red], but it’s a lot of fun being around a team that just isn’t about building robots.”

Other students have also become involved in robotics outside of school. Adrienne Wong (12) and her sister Lorraine (9) are members of the all-girls Space Cookies team, another team competing at the event, which is a merge of NASA and Girl Scouts. The Space Cookies took second place overall at the Silicon Valley Regional.

“I’m so used to being at school and doing dance and all these internal Harker activities, but it was so nice meeting girls from other high schools,” Adrienne Wong (12) said. “I’ve learned with work with other girls whom I don’t see everyday and work with, and we all get to work on the robot. In the end, it becomes like our own creation.”

Her teammate from the Space Cookies team, Suzannah Osekowsky, from Saratoga High School also added, “A lot of people don’t get how fun it’ll be to be out there cheering for your robot, but it really is. It’s like a sport like that.”

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