Students compete in FIRST Robotics Tournament in Albany
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — On Saturday, 28 teams competed at the ‘first’ tech challenge robotics tournament, but only four teams will make it to regionals. John McNally, Tournament Director and STEM Coordinator at Albany Academy said that every year, the FIRST Tech Challenge introduces a new game where students team up to learn how to design, build, program, and test driver-operated robots that can perform specific tasks.
“The students who go through this program enjoy solving problems, working together, and critical thinking skills,” McNally said. “So they leave this program and become great thinkers and go to great schools and do amazing things.”
The goal for the first tech challenge is for students to learn more about robot design, programming, and outreach. Camryn DeLaet is a part of Team System Override and is a sophomore from Duanesburg, NY; and was excited to be a part of an actual robotics team to help design instead of just a spectator.
“This is my first time actually on the team,” DeLaet said. “So it’s a cool experience being on this side of it.”
Logan Gonzalez is a part of Team System Override and a Freshman from Duanesburg. His favorite part is getting the chance actually to build a robot…
“Definitely when it comes to making sure that everything works right and moves,” Gonzalez said.
For Team Tardis, Nicole Miller, Team Tardis, and Sophmore from Corning said it was about learning lessons from previous competitions.
“This season especially,” Miller said. “We’ve been focused on learning from our previous season. So we learned from all of our mistakes, and I think we’re definitely ready.”
Dozens of teams were ready not just with their robots but also with their very creative and fun team outfits. It’s no wonder many robots had notable names and some with sentimental meanings behind them…
Alex Thompson from Team Jellyfish and a Senior from Rye Brook named their robot Michelle after their high school chemistry teacher who retired last year… but they have been working on the robot since the fall.
“We have just been building since September, so it’s only been a few months,” Thompson said. “We got the main design down by December.”
These teams are among 6,000 teams that are competing in 53 countries. But the robotic competitions will continue when the Hudson Valley FIRST Tech LEGO League Robotics Tournament launches tomorrow morning.