Charles Wright Academy Robotics Team Heads to District Competition

By: Nitin Ahuja ’16

Charles Wright Upper School students have a host of student clubs and programs from which to choose. This blog post highlights the CWA Robotics team - Wright Angle Robotic; their current season, as well as the structure and benefits of the Robotics league. It was written by sophomore Nitin Ahuja, the co-general manager of the robotics team. 

Hello everyone! Today I am going to tell you about the robotics league to which we comply, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), and our own robotics team. FIRST is an international nonprofit organization whose objective is to inspire kids in science and engineering and to help them gain skills necessary for success in life.

It does this in multiple ways, including by having competitions with specific goals that the robots designed by their respective teams do their best to achieve. The teams themselves pass down knowledge to new teammates and also exchange knowledge with other teams—both inside and outside of the tournaments. There is also the value of gracious professionalism, which is to say kindness and courtesy that not only extends to other teams and the judges, but to everyone.

The actual organization of the team is mostly student-run. Most of FIRST is also volunteer-run, so teams also have an opportunity to help set up and run the events. Wright Angle Robotics (FIRST FTC [First Tech Challenge] Team 6427) is composed of Charles Wright Upper School students who are interested in learning engineering and life skills. The team has displayed these skills already by taking initiative and showing responsibility and creativity that manifested into an 18-inch-by-18-inch robot specifically designed for the FIRST FTC competitions.

Our season so far has been quite an interesting and fun experience. We as a team have improved so much from last year. We made better designs, better programs, and even developed better relationships with each other. I enjoy working with my friends collaboratively to achieve a common goal. It is incredibly satisfying, after all of our hard work, to see our robot accomplish what we intended to do. I will admit that it did not go smoothly as you might think; a robotics team like ours tends to have a lot of people with different ideas. But rather than provoking arguments, it provokes discussion. Robotics as a result teaches you life skills that are so important, such as patience, sportsmanship, professionalism, and collaboration. Robotics also helps me understand and apply my math and science knowledge to the real world. The laws of physics, for example, are fair game in this.

At the moment, we are preparing for the district competition that will be held Jan 11. at Tahoma Junior High School. It will determine whether we go to the state competition or not. As you might imagine, a lot is on the line. It will be great if we could have support from fellow Tarriers and our community!