The robotics team looks to have another season of success, showing promise before heading into the winter. Four robotics teams have attended two tournaments: one in late October and one in the middle of September, and the results show positive signs as the bulk of the season approaches.
During the September tournament, Firebird at Holy Ghost School in Bensalem Township, team 169A took first place. The team consists of Fourth Former Ben Qu and Sixth Formers Ajay Chakraborty, Jack Ford, and James Friel. At the next tournament, the LMSD qualifier at Black Rock Middle School, three teams competed in their first tournament of the year: 169B, 169Y, and 169X.
169X, made up of Third Formers Steve Xie and Eric Xiao, found major success. The team finished first in the qualification stage, with a 5-1 record, earning them the first seed for the knockout stage and allowing them to skip the first round. The team found a close win in the quarterfinals before unfortunately losing in the semifinals. Despite not quite reaching the finish line, the young team has a promising season ahead of them.
“We did well for our first competition, but there’s definitely room for improvement,” Xiao said. “I’m a little disappointed that we lost, but there’s not so much we can do about that.”
Xiao is optimistic about future tournaments.
“[Our performance] just shows that we have to practice more. We didn’t have that much drive practice beforehand. We need to do a lot more of that in the future.”
At Black Rock, Team 169B received the Judges’ Award, which is given to a team that is worthy of special recognition based on an interview with the judges. In 169B’s case, they received the award due to their extensive knowledge of their robot’s inner workings, while also showing team proficiency and proper communication with the judges.
Though 169B fell short at a 4-4-1 record, both Haverford teams were able to utilize their previous experiences to improve their game strategy, and test their new iterations of their robots, whose quality was above average at the event.
“It’s one thing to base your design off of [other teams], but you need to know your own processes,” Fifth Former Brandyn Luong said.
Winning this award changed the team’s mentality.
“It motivates us. If we can win that award, we can win so much more,” Luong said. “It makes us more fueled to achieve better awards.”
After the competition, both 169A and 169B continued on to the WPI Signature Event, which takes place in Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts. At the event, 169A performed exceptionally well, finishing with an 8-1 record, although losing the elimination match.
Though 169B fell short at a 4-4-1 record, both Haverford teams were able to utilize their previous experiences to improve their game strategy, and test their new iterations of their robots, whose quality was above average at the event.
Fords Robotics will look forward to preparing for various local events following the new year, and the Gateway Signature Event in West Virginia.