Successful in tournaments stretching from Lubbock to Oklahoma, the Jesuit Robotics team, The All Sparks, has surely accomplished a lot this year. They placed 4th in both FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) regional tournaments this year, showing they had what it took to be successful. Unfortunately, minor errors, paired with the intense competition from the other squads led to the disappointing semifinal losses. Sophomore member Drew Curran ’15 was generally pleased with their success this year, adding that “we really did the best we could” and “getting fourth ranking before alliance competition in both regional tournaments this year is a lot to say for all of us on the team.”
This year’s competition style, Frisbee shooting, was an interesting and difficult task to accomplish. Competitors were required to build a team of robots able to pick up Frisbees, load them into a shooting mechanism, and launch them into small rectangular openings in a wall on one side of the arena. Robots shot Frisbees using preprogrammed codes, as well as manual shooting programmed by one of the students. After target shooting, teams were awarded up to 30 points for however many levels their robot could climb on a 3 level metal-barred structure. Many different styles and structures of robots were seen this year as Jesuit traveled to Lubbock and Oklahoma. Jesuit managed to craft themselves some of the competition’s best robots to compete against other tough schools.
One of the aspects that makes robotics such a fascinating competition is the diversity of skills it requires to assemble a quality team. Ranging from programmers to scouts, to builders and researchers there are many tasks that are crucial to any robotic team. Without skilled members in any one of these groups the team would ultimately fail, and with so many diverse talents at Jesuit, it’s no wonder the All Sparks do so well in
competition. Senior, Peter Michael Webb, enjoyed his role on the team this year, reflecting that “[he] enjoyed having the role of showing off their robots to other schools and people,” also adding that “it was really cool to get to show what we’ve learned to other people.”
The All Sparks Team showed these many different talents off through a group of competitions called “FIRST Robotics Competition” which includes kids from ages 14-18, usually consisting of people in high school. The organization is all about finding something interesting to involve high school students in that will potentially benefit them in the long run. Founder Dean Kamen says that his ultimate goal for the program is “To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders.” The competition strives to make these students engaged in math and science, which will push the forefronts of these industries and degrees in later years. Peter Michael Webb adds that “[his] robotics experience will never leave [him],” and that “the skills [he] has learned while in robotics will benefit [him] with his college degree next year at Case Western University.”
Webb and the rest of the Jesuit Robotics Team would like to extend an invitation to all those students interested in robots, science, math and engineering to attend one of our meetings. For more information on how to join look up the Jesuit Robotics Team under the clubs section on moodle, or on the Jesuit Dallas homepage at jesuitcp.org.
