Amongst the numerous tournaments the Townsend Harris Steel Hawks participate in annually, the Robotics Competition in Albany was one Harrisites were eager to take part in. Approximately 116 students and four mentors representing the team attended the event, which took place from March 20 to March 24.
During this, the robotics team was given the opportunity to compete with other high schools around the city, such as Hunter High School and Queens High School for the Sciences at York College. The Steel Hawks took a promising path, culminating in the semifinals where they placed fourth out of 51 teams. All nine robotics subteams, including programming, mechanical, and electrical, had crucial roles in the making of the robot and were critical to the success of the competition.
Chemistry teacher and Steel Hawks coach Joel Heitman said that some issues with the robot caused it to behave unexpectedly during the gameplay. Ultimately, it led multiple robots to crash into each other and break certain pieces, which then had to be taken care of to continue in the competition. Junior Ava Jack detailed one such mishap. She said, “we also had a major piece of our side of the playing field, our Amp, (point amplifying piece that is integral to good gameplay) break during a previous match that would go unchecked by referees despite our complaints.”
Ultimately, the team made it to the 4th round. After the competition ended, many students returned with mixed feelings.
Junior Freddy Yu said that the team’s overarching goal was to win and that even if they made it to the semi-finals, “it was not an improvement from last year.” Like Freddy, many students compared the trajectory of last year’s competition to this year’s.
Similarly, Freshman Stella Hwang said, “From what I heard, I think we had a better season last year compared to this season.”
Sophomore Jason He said, “It is pretty unfortunate that we did not get a spot at the First Championship, but overall, our robot was great, and we ranked pretty high at all of the events we participated in.”
Many of the Steel Hawk members are also hopeful for the addition of new ideas and equipment to assist in future competitions. Senior Gurjot Gill, president of the Steel Hawks, said that they plan to continue improving and building their robot so that every year it becomes more powerful. He said, “for next year, getting more new Kraken X60 motors would be beneficial, as they are more powerful than our old Falcon 500 motors.”
Though students may have different opinions on the event there was a similar outlook on how they can approach future competitions. Gurjot said that although the competition may have ended, their robot will continue to be improved for the next regionals. He said, “next year the team plans on building another consistent robot, and currently we plan on improving our robot for our next regional.”
Similarly, Junior Ava Jack said, “I know that our team will continue innovating and improving upon our robot through different pieces of technology and intellect.”
Stella also expressed optimism for next year. She said, “I think since we didn’t see the results we wanted, it’ll definitely help push me to work harder for next year.” She said, “I have a good feeling about next year’s season though. New rookies, a new game, more experience, and probably a lot of fun.”
