The Blind Brook High School robotics team, or Team Jellyfish 4654, recently showcased their engineering and problem-solving skills at the John Jay Qualifier hosted by John Jay Senior High School on December 7th. The team spent the day competing, where they played multiple matches against various schools, all aiming to prove they had built the best robot.
Throughout the school year, the Blind Brook robotics team has dedicated countless hours to building and perfecting their robot, named Lovelace, in honor of Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer. The team meets every Thursday and Friday after school, frequently gathering outside of school hours to design, build, and program their robot. Despite facing challenges such as limited resources, strict size regulations, and programming difficulties, the team strengthened their collaboration and problem-solving abilities. Their hard work resulted in a robot capable of driving smoothly and skillfully handling competition specimens.
On the day of the qualifier, the team was very excited and nervous. They first set up their equipment and started getting ready for their interview with judges later on. After their interview, the team began preparing for matches. However, a problem had occurred.Their robot had malfunctioned at the last minute, but they persevered through, and turned their robot that couldn’t even move slides, into a robot that was capable of scoring specimens and hanging. After this, the robotics team started competing against other competitive teams.
Matches were played in small fields where two sides went against each other, each side consisting of two teams. The goal is to earn more points than the opposing side. Points can be earned by dropping samples into baskets, hanging specimens on bars, parking your robot at the end of the game, or hanging your robot on a bar at the end of the game. The robotics team played a total of five matches, winning three of them. The team did incredibly well, and ended on a positive note after winning a 2nd Place Think Award.
Looking ahead, the team is now working hard to build an even stronger robot for their next upcoming competition and second qualifier in Albany in January. The team has come so far since the start of the year, and has successfully rebuilt their team, after losing multiple skilled seniors with no other seniors to replace their roles. This tournament was a chance for the team to have fun and learn the importance of innovation and collaboration.