Benet Academy’s Robotics Team started their new season with teams hard at work programming and engineering new robots. Mr. Marshall, the moderator for Robotics Club, said, “Benet Academy has four robotics teams designing and building to compete in a few months. Students from every grade level work to figure out their strategy and learn the coding necessary to make their robot function. It is not easy to build something from scratch, and teams realize that what they have on paper doesn’t always work in reality. The name of the game is making adjustments early and often.” Also, as predicted, expectations are high this season. Starting in January and February of 2023, the teams are ready to face more than 11,500 competitors from 40 different countries, of which only one will prevail. 

For the 2022-2023 Robotics Competitions, each round will have two different teams going against each other. The round goes on for a little under two minutes. The first 10 seconds are used for the robots to score points automatically. Each team’s primary goal is to gain the most points by the end of the round. Five points are awarded by putting the yellow disks in the nets, but if a team misses, they give the opposing team one point. Also, one point is awarded each time the robots take the yellow disks to their team’s corners. However, to earn 10 points, the robots need to change the color of the rollers to either red or blue, depending upon which team they are on. Although the competition perhaps seems straightforward, there is a twist to the competition in the last ten seconds of the match. Within these seconds, robots may gain three points by covering as much space on the field as possible. 

Overall, robotics can be a fun activity for all, even if the sport is new to spectators and those competing. Benet Academy Robotics Team opens new opportunities for those with or without experience.