The first competition of many

Olivia Burch |Staff Reporter

The Bishop Kenny Robotics Team placed third in the first qualification match of the year. This competition was the first match to be on the Kenny campus and the first that the Robotics Team competed in.

The team of almost 20 began to build the robot at the beginning of the year specifically for the meet on October 21st. The robot has an extension arm to move various objects; two separate sets of wheels, allowing it to drive on different surfaces; and is programmed to move and operate, with or without drivers and a coach during each round.

The competition consisted of 18 rounds with two teams against another two teams, both randomly paired together. The Bishop Kenny Robotics Team competed a total of five times, winning four of those. During each round, the robot was placed onto a balancing pad, then was tested to see if it could operate certain commands on it’s own, also known as autonomous. After autonomous, the robot has to be able to move blocks into set columns and rows, move a relic, and drive back onto the balancing pad.

The Bishop Kenny team was the only team at the competition Saturday that had a successful autonomous mode that drove off the balancing pad. The robot was then able to move to the block stacking area, and correctly place a block within it. Other teams also had a programmed autonomous mode, but they  didn’t operate as wished.

The 15 other teams that competed were usually in this competition for a second or third time prior to the first qualification match on Kenny campus. The Bishop Kenny Team, however, competed for the first time.

The teams had accomplished the production of two robots in over a nine week period. The first robot was only able to drive basic maneuvers. The second robot, on the other hand, can drive while extending and operating the arm to grab objects. The team plans to make a new and improved robot for the next meet. They plan to program the next model to drive smoother and wish to design a new arm.