Robotics team qualifies for state competition

The Gregory School Upper School Robotics Team has qualified for the State Competitions. Each year, the club builds a robot to perform specific tasks in a tournament, all of which are varied and require different mechanisms. For example, one of the bigger tasks is that the robot has to shoot rings into baskets or hit specific targets, requiring that the ring shooter be accurate, powerful, and consistent. “We also have to collect the rings from the field and have image recognition software to identify rings on the field so that the robot itself can know where it needs to deliver a wobble goal,” team member Erik Wisnom ‘22 explained.

 The 2021 tournament was virtual, another challenge that the club overcame. “This year, with COVID, has been an especially difficult year for robotics,” Erik said. “Trying to figure out how to build a single robot as a team while maintaining social distancing regulations was a new challenge, not to mention finding time we could work on campus in person. Despite these challenges, we have done well and are currently looking forward to and working towards the state competition.”

The team worked over the course of the year to design, program, and build a robot, and through the members’ efforts, won the Innovate Award. This award recognizes the team’s ability to prototype and design different parts of the robot, and it facilitated the team’s advance to the state competition. “One of the many things I like about robotics is how much room for creativity there is in the builds,” team member Thaleia Jenness ‘24 said. “I really enjoy working as a team with the other people in the club even if there is always so much to be done. My hopes for the state competition mostly is that everything runs smoothly and as expected.”

Congratulations to The Gregory School 2020-21 Robotics Team: Riley Blute ‘24, Skylar Dehnert ‘24, Thaleia Jenness ‘24, James Knepler ‘23, Isaac Lane ‘24, Axel Lehmann ‘24, Marco Manzo ‘21, Bobby McMahon ‘23, Karl Ramus ‘22, and Erik Wisnom ‘22. The team advisor is Mr. Dennis Conner.