March 25, 2022
Southington High School’s robotics team, the CyberKnights, recently completed its first event in three years, finishing in second place at a two-day competition in Springfield, Mass.
Stacey Lynn Hilton, team mentor, said each January, FIRST Robotics unveils a new game which requires teams of high school students to design and build a robot that can compete within the strict design, weight and game play rules.
“This year’s game, ‘Rapid React,’ requires alliances of three teams to gather and shoot balls into an eight-foot high goal in the middle of the field and then climb on a series of bars before the end of the match,” Hilton said.
The competition at Western New England University was held Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March 20. The event saw 36 teams from across New England compete. The CyberKnights went into the playoff tournament as part of the second ranked alliance with Team 288, “GUS Robotics,” from Meriden and Team 2168, the “Aluminum Falcons,” from Groton.
“Since very few of the current 58 member team had any actual on-field experience, the team expected to go into its first competition with a lot to learn,” Hilton said. “Most of the matches Saturday were spent evaluating and fine-tuning the programming to make the robot operate more efficiently. The team also made modifications to some parts of the robot based on how the designs work in competitive play. By Sunday, the robot was performing well and Team 195 was scoring and climbing consistently in the final qualifying matches.”
In addition to placing second in the playoff portion of the tournament, Hilton said the team received two off-field awards.
“The CyberKnights received the Gracious Professionalism Award, which celebrates outstanding demonstration of FIRST Core Values by working together both on and off the playing field,” Hilton said.
In addition, the team’s mechanical lead, Southington High School junior Alyssa Polverari, was announced as a “Dean’s List” finalist.
“The Dean’s List Award recognizes the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding secondary school students,” Hilton said. “She will go on to interview for the award at the district championship level.”
While Team 195 is based at Southington High School, the program is largely self-funded.
“The team takes pride in the relationship it maintains with local businesses which are key to the ongoing success of the team,” Hilton said. “Mohawk Northeast, Inc. is a major sponsor and also donates manufacturing and practice space. Tiger Enterprises, Henkel Corporation, Cyient, Inc. Stanley Tools, JH Metal Finishing and F&F Concrete are all major sponsors along with dozens of others.”
Hilton said the CyberKnight’s are currently “back in the shop” working on refinements to design and programming in preparation for their next competition. This will be the Hartford District competition, April 8 through 10.
FIRST Robotics Competition is a worldwide competition of more than 3,000 teams of high school aged students. A documentary about FIRST Robotics and its impact on students was released on Disney+ earlier this month. Team 195, the CyberKnights, are featured briefly in the 90 minute program.
Brian M. Johnson can be reached at 860-973-1806 or bjohnson@bristolpress.com.
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