Two of their best competitions ever and one award later, Hoya Robotics has earned enough points to get them to the FIRST Canada Ontario District Championship.
The team was at Nipissing University in North Bay from April 6-8 to compete in their second district qualifier. In the first, at Georgian College in Barrie, the Hoyas were chosen for an alliance that narrowly missed first for a spectacular second-place finish. At North Bay, the team finished seventh in the qualifying rounds which put them in a position – for the first time ever – to create their own alliance to take into the final rounds.
“In the qualification matches, we did extremely better this time than we did last time,” said team captain Andrew Johnston. “We were seventh out of 26 teams. It was the first time our team got to have our own alliance. That was a milestone for our team. It was a huge thing for us.”
In the quarterfinals, the Hoya robot, Trillium, sustained damage after being rammed by another robot. The collision pushed a cable too close to the motor causing a short circuit that fried the motor controller. But FIRST robotics competitions are about team work and perseverance. With the loan of a new part from another team – their opponents for the next round – the students in the Hoya pit crew were able to get their robot functioning again.
“I’m really proud of our team. When our robot did break, we had it fixed insanely fast,” said Johnston. “It was a quite major repair and we did it efficiently and properly and didn’t take any shortcuts. We got it done and it worked really well.”
As for the team that loaned them the spare part – FIRST Team 1305 from North Bay – Johnston said, “They were actually our opponents for the next round. They would rather compete against you than have your robot not functioning. They were gracious enough to lend us that part for the match and the rest of the competition.”
That type of co-operation between competing teams is encouraged at FIRST robotics competitions. “Teams are working together toward a greater goal, and to have fun,” said Johnston.
The Hoya alliance won their first quarterfinal match, but due to a field default the match had to be replayed. The alliance didn’t win that time around and were eliminated from competition, but not before the Hoyas earned an award from the judges and enough points to carry them through to the regional championship in Mississauga.
Johnston said that in addition to their performance, the team is particularly proud of the award they received – also a first for Hoya Robotics.
The Gracious Professionalism award is given to the team that demonstrates high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. The FIRST Canada website describes it like this: “With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended.”
The team got the award, Johnston said, for several reasons. “The main two reasons were how polite and welcoming we are to the other teams – we helped out a lot of different teams with things they needed, a tool or something – but also we had a really thorough public safety access point that our team provided. We had a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit, a battery spill kit, earplugs, hair ties… anything you would need in a machine shop entering a robotics competition we offered to teams for free.” The team also handed out packages of Kleenex from Kimberley-Clark, one of the team’s sponsors.
Trillium is wrapped up awaiting the next level of competition – teams can only work on their robots during specified times – but the Hoyas will have a full day to tweak their robot when they arrive in Mississauga for the regionals.
As you’d expect, the competitions get harder as teams rise through the levels, but Johnston is optimistic for the regional championship where 60 teams will face off for the honour of going to the FIRST Championship with other teams from around the world.
“The teams will be a lot stronger in their ability for performance. There will be some big teams that will be going, and award-winning teams,” said Johnston. “We expect we’ll do fairly well (at regionals) – our robot has been performing very well and we can very successfully do the required tasks for the competition.”
The top 30 of 60 teams at the district championship will head to the world championship competition in St. Louis at the end of April.
The district championship will be broadcast live at watchfirstnow.com or you can watch in person at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga on April 14 or 15.
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Sandy McLennan says
“competition and mutual gain are not separate notions”
“The team also handed out packages of Kleenex from Kimberley-Clark, one of the team’s sponsors”
This is a life-boosting project for those involved.
I hope Huntsville and Huntsville High School know what a good man Mr. Ian McTavish is.
Great that the article wholly quotes the lead student.
Congratulations, and good luck, all.