This week on Saturday, January 21, the Old Colony Robotics Team packed up their machines and equipment and headed to Bristol Community College for the VEX Robotics Qualifying Competition.
The competition was a game of Starstruck, in which the object of the game is to work in alliance with another team to score the most points by moving large foam jacks onto the opponent’s side.
Upon arrival, the OC team got to work adjusting their robots with final changes to gears and last-minute autonomous programming. The team members and their advisors worked at lightning speed to have the robots up and fully functional. It worked, and in the first round, the OC team dominated the field and took first place.
However, their apparent victory did not last. Design issues resulted in one robot losing mobility and stalling mid-round; the other robot found itself equally at disadvantage. After losing the remaining rounds of the day, things looked bleak.
During their intermission, the team worked hard to diagnose their problems. Drivers tested and re-tested modifications taking note of every issue. The rest of the team rushed to give one robot better reach and to remove excess weight from the other to decrease drag. Their only hope was to make their robots useful in alliance in hopes of being picked to be part of one of the top teams.
When intermission ended, the top eight winning teams called out their picks for alliances and with their new modification in place, the OC team was chosen. They allied with the Air Strike team, which was made up of a local 4-H group, and managed to survive the elimination rounds against the other alliances.
With one robot working as a tank to block, a second robot throwing jacks over the fence, and the third knocking stars back onto the opposing side, the Old Colony/Air Strike alliance was undefeated in the final rounds. Having won the qualifying competitions, both Air Strike and Old Colony move forward to the Regional Competition.
Though their strategic alliance and quick thinking aided them in surviving their first competition, the OC team is hoping to make further modifications to their design to aid in their next competition. We all wish them luck.
By Elizabeth Jerome