My name is Yoni
Katz, and I am in the 6th grade at TA. I recently competed in two
robotics competitions with my teammates from TA. It was a very fun experience
that I want to share with the readers of the Where What When.
TA competes in two
different VEX Robotics competitions, a local competition at TA and a national
competition in New York. The New York competition was hosted by Darchei Torah.
As soon as I heard about the competition from my friends, I knew it was something
I wanted to do. I started by asking my friends who might be interested in
competing to sign up. The school places all students on three- or four-person
teams to help emphasize teamwork. It helps the students recognize that they can
only succeed as a team and not on their own. Mr. Tucker, the robotics
instructor, told us that we would have weekly meetings from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. He
also explained the competition rules. First, each team’s robot must be able to
pick up a variety of blocks and place the blocks in designated areas. Second,
if your robot breaks during a qualification, you can’t fix it. The team earns
points and the team with the most points wins.
Mr. Tucker showed
all the teams a list of basic competition expectations for how to design the
robots. My friends and I used this list to design the layout of our robot. It
was challenging working together with the team and compromising on the robot
design, but with hard work, we managed to build our robot. One key requirement
was that our robot had to move on its own without getting stuck on various
obstacles in the competition field. Once we built our robot, it was time to
test it. Mr. Tucker said that, in the real competition, we would be competing
with different people from different schools. My team worked together to meet
the expectations required to be in the robotics program.
The local
competition was held at TA this year. A lot of kids practice for weeks before
(or practice right before) each competition. My team and I practiced for
a long time before the competition in a practice arena, and tested our robot
with green, blue, and red blocks (each block color is also a different size).
Moving each green block was worth one point; each blue block was worth two
points; and each red block was worth three points. We practiced until we were
able to smoothly move our robot around the practice arena.
The schools that
came to the local competition at TA included TA, TI, Cheder Chabad, and YBH of
Passaic. My team members and I took turns piloting the robot. We were doing
really well until the last round. Some teams’ robots broke the night before,
while other teams’ robots broke during the competition. Almost all of the teams
made small adjustments to their robots in the middle of the competition based
on how well their robots were performing. None of the teams in my school got to
first or second place, but I still had a fun time.
After the first
competition, my team was pretty disappointed, so we made our robot better
equipped to face the national competition by making a handful of adjustments.
We felt really good about our robot when it came time to travel to New York.
All of the boys in the robotics competition were very excited to compete in New
York.
The morning of the
competition, instead of davening at TA we davened at Rabbi Teichman’s shul,
Ohel Moshe. After davening, we boarded the bus and found our seats. I sat with
my friend Yehuda Weiskind, and together we listened to music on his MP3 Player.
By the time we got to New York, it was around 1:00 p.m. While everyone else had
lunch, I had to fix the robot because it broke on the way. By the time I was
done that, it was time for the national competition. This time, I didn’t want
to pilot the robot because I did not score well during the first competition.
Instead, I watched from the back, cheering on my teammates and constantly
checking the score board. This time my team actually had worse results than during
the first competition. But I was still happy because I wasn’t in school, and I
was having a great time. Even though our team did not win, another team from TA
won first place! The whole school was really happy about that. Mr. Tucker, the
robotics teacher, was ecstatic!
After the
competition was over, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Carlos and
Gabby’s. Although I was not such a fan of the food, all of the other boys liked
it. I sat with my friends, and we played cards at our table. When I finished
playing with them, I bentched, and we
went back onto the bus. They turned off the lights, but for some reason I
couldn’t fall asleep. Before my friend went to sleep, I asked him if I could
use his MP3 player, so I had something to keep me occupied. By the time we got
home, it was around 11:30 p.m. I was very tired and wanted to go home.
Fortunately, my house was just around the corner, and I started walking home.
My friend’s parents saw me and insisted on giving me a ride. They dropped me
off at my house, and I walked in. My parents saw me and asked me how it was. I
told them every detail. After that they told me they were very proud of me (and
to go straight to bed).
All in all, I had
a great time during this trip because it let me be part of a team and work with
other people. My favorite part was actually building the robot because I like
building things a lot. I am excited to join next year’s competition.
