* Disclaimer: One of the 42Fifty editors, Jessica VanVooren, is a part of the Robotics Team and participated in the World Championships. She did not contribute to the writing and editing process of this article.
Last month, the SD#308 Robotics Team, Team 2338: Gear it Forward, competed at the World Championships against many other teams, placing 35th out of 75. The competition occurred from April 17 to April 20 in Houston, TX.
“Our team ranked 35th in our division and made it onto ‘Alliance 7!’ at Houston. We [also] ranked 35th in our division and made it to the 7th Alliance with teams 114, 1727, and 2522,” said Outreach Captain Hannah Roark.
Gear it Forward had to compete in elaborate but exciting contests to get their final placement, which determined their alliances.
“In each division, teams [were] playing matches like a regional competition, where a set of qualification matches [was] played and the top-ranked team pick[ed] their alliance and face[d] off in playoff matches. The winners of each division face off against each other in a double-elimination bracket playoff to determine the World Champion,” said Software Captain Tharun Kumar Senthilkumar.
The matches were extremely tough, but the team shared that they worked together to do their best. With the skills of each individual being utilized, members believed that they were able to utilize different talents to compete.
“We [had] a reliable robot and did the best we could in the difficult circumstances we were in. We also adapted well to some issues unique to the world championship,” said Team Captain Luke Bohnert.
Although Gear it Forward did not place as well as they had wanted, members such as Roark shared that their experience during the competition was amazing and unmatched.
“Teams from all over the world attend this competition, making it a great opportunity to meet new people and learn from others. It was interesting to look at everyone’s robots and see how teams conquered the same problem through different techniques,” said Roark.
Members shared that they had learned a lot from attending the competition, especially through meeting and learning from other impressive teams.
“We always try and learn from the high performing teams on things we can emulate to improve our own team,” said Bohnert. “Taking a look [at] the marvels of engineering each team brings can help us determine what we do well on and what we need to improve.”
Members, like Roark, shared how well the team worked together to accomplish their goals. Every member had their part and contributed to the final result.
“No matter how we were performing, our members never gave up and still put forth their best effort, allowing us to have a successful and fun competition,” said Roark.
Hi, my name is Allison and this is my first year in Digital Journalism. I am in multiple clubs such as BIONIC, Commotion, and multiple different honor societies! I am so excited to be a new member on the 42Fifty team.
