The Black and White

by Ethan Smitherman

After successfully moving on from the qualifier rounds, on February 8th, Pilgrim’s robotics team took the stage for the competition for states in North Kingston. Before the team could participate in the completion, they had to make some changes to their robot. In between competition dates, the team completely revamped the design of their robot. In order to redesign, the team had to essentially start from scratch, almost completely disassembling the robot. Each essential part of the robot was taken out and either redone or repurposed for a more efficient configuration. For example, a necessary component for a robot in the competition is a launcher. This is necessary as the robot is able to score points by launching a ball into a certain area. The team completely changed the design of their launcher in order to gain more control and flexibility. The redesign process was done in just a single week in order to give time for reprogramming as there was only around 2 weeks in between competition dates. It was essential to reprogram to take advantage of the new design of the robot and ensure the highest accuracy.

After making it to the competition, the team had an amazing first round with a winning score of 140 – 28. This first round brought high hopes to the team of advancing very far in the competition. After a valiant effort during games and some unfortunate circumstances, the team ended up placing 13th. However, despite getting 13th place, the team ended up placing in the top two of all scoring categories. Furthermore, the team ended up winning first place for the connect-award, an award that recognizes teams that show outstanding outreach within the community. This competition date may have been the last for this year’s team, but the robotics team will continue to inspire and compete in the future. 

Throughout their time in and outside of class, the team has put immense effort into outreach. Due to having an almost exclusively senior roster, the team wanted to ensure that Pilgrim has a team next year. Through advertising methods like a website, posters, and events, the team has made sure that there will be a future for the robotics class, recruiting several new members. The team put in so much effort into outreach because of the lasting impact that the robotics class had on them. “Robotics has helped me find a group of people who are as motivated as me… it has helped me find what my future career path will be… I am hopeful for the future of robotics because the team has worked hard to preserve the club, and there is always going to be a student who can’t sit still in class and is always thinking of things to make or design,” says Harry Castillo, a team captain who has been in the class for 3 years. This sentiment rings true for not only this year’s team but also previous year’s teams. There have been a few robotics alumni who have come back to help mentor the team. The robotics team has shown the importance of robotics and the impact it can have in the near and distant future.