Robotics Team Heads to States

John Jay’s robotics team Mechanical Operations Bureau (the MOB) powered though challenges at the US FIRST Regional Qualifier at Peekskill High School on Saturday, January 14, and is heading to the State Championships in Utica on March 5.

“The competition was super stressful, but we prevailed,” said Rachel Lewis, John Jay robotics senior and spokesperson for the MOB.

“Our robotics program is more diverse and much stronger than last year,” said Jonathan Peter, John Jay’s robotics teacher. “We’re all excited to go to States.”

  • the mob

The day started smoothly. John Jay’s teams the MOB, Super Awesome Robot (SAR) and Tin Diesel passed through the preliminary interview by a panel of judges and robot inspection without a hitch.

But on the field, each team encountered its own challenges.

“On the practice field, we found major inconsistencies in our autonomous code,” said Rachel. With the clock ticking towards start time, the team regrouped to troubleshoot. During the round-robin portion of the competition, the MOB’s robot fell over, Tin Diesel’s robot broke and SAR’s robot struggled with its grabber.

After the first round of play, the MOB was in 18th place, but the team’s tenacity turned the tide. With extensive code fixes and driving practice in between rounds, the MOB finished the five qualifying matches in 2nd place of 25 teams.

  • preparing for next round

US FIRST competitions conclude with an alliance round. John Jay’s the MOB and SAR partnered with first-place team Scarsdale Robotics, while Tin Diesel collaborated with Mamaroneck and John Jay East Fishkill. The MOB’s alliance was a strategic success. They swept the semi-finals and took the championship, coming within seven points of setting a new state record!

Scarsdale won both the Inspire Award and the Winning Alliance Captain spot. As the MOB was Scarsdale’s first pick, it meant that they also qualified to advance to States.

Members of the MOB are psyched about States and even dreaming about Worlds, held in Houston, TX, in April. John Jay’s other teams, including Super Monkey Robo Team (SMRT) which didn’t complete in Peekskill, are preparating for the next qualifier event at John Jay East Fishkill on February 18.