FIRST Robotics Team Creates a ‘Crescendo’ at Orange County Competition

Sonia Wang and Kayley Winata | 67 Views

FIRST Robotics president and senior Amy Shok adjusts the robot created for the Orange County Robotics competition before a game. “We had to make sure that everything was going according to plan, and if there was any problem, we were prepared to fix it,” Shok said. “I think that problem-solving mindset was evident in our robot as well. Our robot had a lot of different changes made because the original design didn’t account for things such as how the robot would be made.”

FIRST Robotics competed in the Orange County Regional Robotics competition from March 28-30 in Costa Mesa, where they were unable to qualify for playoffs due to technical issues with their robot, according to robotics member and sophomore Aidan Lai.

FIRST Robotics unveiled this year’s theme “Crescendo” for teams to base their robot on in January, according to FIRST Robotics coach and science teacher Ryan Johnson. Many of the game prompts for this year’s competition focused on synchronization, such as a game where a human player tries to throw a ring on a post while the robot simultaneously climbs on a chain to perform another task, according to Johnson.

“It’s a very competitive field, and a lot of the schools that are doing this are very good at it,” Johnson said. “We’re motivated by that competitive drive to win, but one of the goals is also to be able to develop and learn those skills in engineering and robotics over time through the competition.”

The competition hosted 48 teams that contested to gain points in games in the qualification rounds. Based on their performance, teams were able to advance to playoffs where they would form alliances with other teams. For Lai, communicating with other teams to look for potential alliances was a highlight of the competition.

“You’ll learn a lot from talking with each team,” Lai said. “All of them are happy to tell you mostly everything about their robot, and it’s just really cool seeing their different designs, their different ideas and whether it’s similar or different to yours because everyone approaches the game in their own different way.”

In addition to observing unique designs from other teams, the team also found ways to improve their performance for next year, according to president and senior Amy Shok. This includes finding more volunteers so they can hold more frequent meetings, which will let them work on the robot more.

In the future, the team hopes to continue improving their cooperation skills as well as advance further in the competition by implementing team-bonding activities and starting their meetings during the summer, according to Shok.

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About the Contributors

Sonia Wang, Features Editor

Sonia Wang is the Features Editor and a Business Manager for her third and final year on the Portola Pilot. This year, she plans to utilize her skills to make as much money for the Pilot as possible. When she’s not chasing down interview sources or trying to find advertisers, you can find her reading a good fantasy book, journaling or trying to take a much-needed nap.

Kayley Winata, Centerspread Editor

Kayley Winata is the Centerspread Editor for her second year on the Portola Pilot. During Pilot, you can find her sipping her matcha latte (that she woke up early to make) or plotting her next cafe adventure with Nina. In her spare time, you can find her mindlessly scrolling on Pinterest, baking her heart out or listening to Faye Webster and Luna Li on repeat on Spotify. She is so excited to create cute centerspreads and work with everyone on Pilot this year!