The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Wissahickon’s ‘Miss Daisy’ wins at robotics competition
AMBLER » “Miss Daisy,” Wissahickon High School’s Robotics Team 341 had a lot to celebrate after this past weekend’s “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” (FIRST) Mid-Atlantic Hatboro-Horsham District Competition.
“We ended up pulling out a win, our first in regular season play in four years,” said team coach Kirsten Jahn Richardson.
The competition took place from Feb. 29 to March 1 at Hatboro-Horsham High School.
Richardson said the team had been working for two months on the 2020 robot entry for this year’s robotics game, “Infinite Recharge.”
During the competition, the team members experienced several pitfalls including autonomous mode and end game difficulties. These shortcomings led to Team 341 placing 34th out of the 36 squads present.
However, Richardson said the defining moment for Wissahickon High School was a strategic choice by other teams in the competition’s alliance round, which allows “teams [to] pick others they want to stay with them throughout elimination matches.”
“Why did this alliance pick us?” she said in a statement. “Well, regardless of robot performance, our team is known as a team that always puts in 110 percent.”
The alliance of teams 341, 365 and 5895 advanced from the quarterfinals, to the semi-finals to the final round before declaring their victory, she said.
“For a drive team who had little experience with controlling our robot, after one weekend of play, they were absolute pros,” Richardson said.
Richardson said the team expressed their appreciation to several groups throughout this experience including sponsors, parents and families.
The next competition will take place on March 21 and March 22 at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Bridgewater, N.J.