The school’s 404 robotics team has been hard at work the past few months, competing in multiple VEX competitions against local schools.
“There’s a leaderboard with who is winning based on how many wins they have and how good their autonomous bot is,” senior Nico Bronson said.
Each competition consisted of qualification matches, an alliance period and elimination matches. After 60 qualification matches, teams are given time to create an alliance with another team during the elimination round. The final two alliances then compete for a final match to determine the two teams who will win. Most recently, the team has improved their ranking at their meet at Chaminade High School, Nov. 30.
“At our most recent competition that took place at Chaminade, 404E placed second, and 404Z placed 10th,” Bronson said.
The team has a strong bond that allows them to work swiftly and efficiently. Through late nights coding their robot, and always trying to uplift each other, the team has formed a natural connection that is a recipe for success. With each member having a special love for robotics, they are able to pour their energy into the program.
“As we are a student-run program, the motivation comes entirely from members,” senior Brendan Keenan said. “Our program would not exist if the members in the past and the current were not willing to participate.”
The several hours the team spends working is spent coding and tweaking their bot’s, along with practicing driving the bot, while also programming it autonomously. There is a short time period at the beginning of a match where the bot runs by itself, which requires patience and lots of preparation beforehand.
“While the time commitment is large, making friends and learning lifelong skills is well worth it,” Keenan said.
To offset these long and tiring hours, the team makes sure to keep their spirits high, making sure to encourage each other and have room for discussion.With the combination of collaboration and creativity, the team is grateful for each member, and spreads an inspiring message that anyone can be interested in robotics, not just the stereotype.
“In our team we have so many different kinds of people; artists, football players, a tennis player, a student council, and even band kids,” Bronson said. “There’s a wide variety of people in robotics and not just the typical nerd.”
