Most people relax, go on vacation, or play video games over the summer. However, for the Jesuit All Sparks, it’s a different story. This summer, Jesuit’s robotics team has been hard at work competing in off-season events and coming up with ideas for next year’s robot. The team competed in two tournaments over the summer: the Texas Robot Invitational at Strake Jesuit in Houston, TX from June 29-30th, and later in the Texas Robot Roundup at Anderson High School in Austin, TX on July 27th and 28th.
Texas Robot Invitational
Throughout June, the team worked hard to prepare for the Texas Robot Invitational. There were many experienced teams attending, so the All Sparks had to be ready to compete.
At the tournament, many new drivers were given the daunting task of competing against other teams for the first time. Nevertheless, the All Sparks worked hard and performed great.
At the end of qualifications, the team placed 29th and was picked to compete in the playoffs by the 5th seed alliance. Our alliance, composed of Lights Out from Mountain Home, AR, BearTecs from Bastrop, TX, and AwtyBots from Houston, TX, was unfortunately eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Though the Jesuit alliance only made it to the quarterfinals, the experience was great.
“The tournament felt a lot more relaxed than the other tournaments this season” reported Gabe Norris ’20.
After the tournament, all of the teams gathered together to play a fun game of dodgeball. According to Gabe Norris ‘20, this was a new experience.
“We hadn’t really done anything like this before. It was a great bonding experience with the other members of the team that went.”
Austin tournament
In July, the Jesuit All Sparks took most of the month off, gaining the much-needed rest after a long, busy season. However, once it was time to strap the robot up and head to Austin, the team recaptured their excitement for one last tournament with their robot, Fadeaway.
“the team worked hard on the robot and got it working really well,” throughout the tournament expressed Cade Newbrand ‘21. Jesuit’s new drivers gave their all in every match and earned Jesuit a spot as the 2nd seed.
The team was selected by team Appreciate from Austin, TX to compete in the playoff matches as the 1st seeded alliance alongside the RoboLobos from Cedar Park, TX. The All Sparks-RoboLobo alliance received a bye, starting competition in the semifinals.
In both the semifinals and final matches, the All Sparks went undefeated and won the tournament, a great way to retire Fadeaway.
As Nathan Reis ‘21 stated, “the tournament was a lot of fun, and the team got a lot of experience fixing the robot and driving it for next year. Going undefeated in eliminations with our alliance also made the team excited about next season.”
Later this year, from October 6th-7th, the All Sparks will be competing in the North Texas Tournament of Robots, another offseason event where we hope to debut a new robot to compete in tournaments for next year.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more exciting robotics updates!
