MARCH 7, 2022

机器人团队在近两年无法参加比赛后，在今年的FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)竞赛空间中取得了惊人的成绩.

受到他们在2019年12月的资格赛中获得第一名激励奖的鼓舞, 该团队已经做好准备，准备在2020年春天将他们的机器人提升到一个新的水平. 唉, with the arrival of the pandemic, their competition options were sidelined, 但事实证明，2020-2021学年是开展技能建设的绝佳机会, technical prowess, and team spirit.

最后, September 2021 arrived, 全队都在为12月的第一场预选赛做准备. For Evin Watson, computer science faculty member and robotics team advisor, 回到校舍对团队的成功至关重要——在多个层面上都是如此.

“制造机器人是一个动手的过程，与材料在一起对这个过程至关重要. But being together isn't just important for the robot's construction, it is also important for the team members. It helps collaboration, and communication and for the younger students, 谁可能没有找到自己的位置在校舍和面对面的会议是一个时间与学生分享他们的兴趣. Especially for the underclassmen, 和高年级学生在一起的时光是非常宝贵的,他说.

As a part of the FTC competitions, teams are required to build a robot that measures approximately 18”x18”x18”. 今年的机器人的任务是捡起威夫球，并把它们放在失去平衡的堆叠中心. 整个团队都被点燃了——重新开始建设并亲自参加比赛感觉很棒.

Team Co-Captain Zoe S. ’22 noted, “FTC competitions have a great energy to them! Everyone is always dressed up and dancing and celebrating. 当然, 从大流行中恢复过来是非常具有挑战性的(自从去年我们在网上见面以来，我们一半的团队从未“真正”使用过机器人)。, but that made us more enthusiastic and excited to be back!”

在许多工作日的下午和许多“周六构建”在创客空间度过之后, the team participated in the first qualifier of the season in early December. 他们在15个小组中排名第10，并成功获得了激励奖，从而确保了他们在下一次预选赛中的地位.

For Team Co-Captain Ilana P. ’22, 在机器人团队的经历鼓励她更深入地探索计算机科学的世界, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. 参加比赛提供了继续提问的机会. “我从来没有觉得我们的机器人已经完全完成了，因为总有办法做得更好. 我最美好的记忆来自于在与其他队伍的比赛中计算策略, 同时结合我们对竞争的集体知识和见解,” Ilana said.

本赛季的最后一场预选赛在建筑行业高中举行, Engineering, and Architecture in Queens on February 5. After an unbelievable day, the Nighthawks placed first for the Connect Award, 这保证了他们在全市范围内的三月比赛中的地位——这标志着球队取得了有史以来最远的进步.

“我记得当我们的团队宣布要进入下一个阶段时，每个人都非常兴奋. We were all shouting, jumping, and crying with joy while hugging each other. 这是团队中的每个人都聚在一起庆祝我们的成就并展望未来的时刻之一,” Zoe shared.

The competition on March 6 was strong, but the team held their own. Placing 17th out of 30 and taking home 3rd place for the Promote Award, the team finished out an outstanding season. This is especially notable because as Zoe noted above, over half of the team did not have prior experience with the material. She elaborated, “他们通过直接参与竞赛目标引导我们找到的主题来发展自己的技能. We all learn by ‘doing!’”

Throughout the season, Mr. 沃森一直对团队不断改进的动力印象深刻. 他指出, “Between each competition, we made significant changes/improvements to the design of the robot. 今年我们参加了三次比赛，每次我们的机器人都有很大的不同. 这需要大量的工作和意愿，学生们不满足于他们的设计，并继续努力, which is important to have continued success as a team.”

佐伊和伊拉娜都认为，更广泛的机器人社区一直非常支持他们，他们努力在皇冠体育app的团队中培养同样紧密的社区. When they graduate in June, their leadership will be felt for years to come.

“I hope I’ve left the team with a spirit of learning together. My first year on robotics, the team was relatively new. 结果是, 我们必须一起学习如何做机器人技术——我们通过一起编程来学习如何编程, how to build by experimenting together, 等. 从那时起, 我试着鼓励我作为一个年轻学生所经历的同样的教学精神. I would love to see the team continue this,” Zoe reflected.

Ilana指出, “我希望我给他们留下了动力和信念，只要努力工作和坚持不懈，他们就能实现自己的任何目标! I know that being a leader of this team has been a huge learning experience, 我希望在未来，队长和队员们能对如何更有效地协同工作有更多的想法, communicate their ideas more effectively, and learn from our experiences and struggles. In the future, 我希望我们的机器人团队继续沿着建立我们作为一个有竞争力的团队的道路前进(这是很难被击败的)!) to look out for in the future NYC robotics competitions.”

As the competition season came to a close, Mr. 沃森为这个团队感到无比自豪，并为未来的发展感到兴奋. “The commitment the students make to this team is huge. 我们的赛季跨越了多个运动赛季，让学生们在放学后很晚的时候和许多周末都留在大楼里——这种承诺通常不为更广泛的社区所知. And while it may seem niche within our community, these are worldwide competitions that thousands of students compete in. At the end of the day, there is so much space for failure in the build cycle for a robot, that even the most simple robot is an accomplishment.”

To follow the continued success of the robotics team, be sure to follow their Instagram @nighthawk_robotics.