The night before the Superbowl, as many Parker families were preparing charcuterie boards, platters, and more, Parker’s Robotics team proved that their skills were sharp, not dull. Parker’s Varsity team scored the most points in a competition using just the controller from a Playstation console.
The competition, underwater themed but not actually underwater, is meant to “Emulate picking up trash from the ocean,” Shade Rothkopf said. There are three main components that need to be tackled if a team wants to succeed in this robotics competition: the construction of the robot, coding, and driving. Within these three main categories are subclasses. These competitions are limited by time, so the robot should be able to move with accuracy, quickly, and have the ability of completing the tasks that would award points.
Parker’s varsity team specializes in placing blocks, which are called samples, into elevated baskets. “We primarily put them in the baskets just because it’s a bit faster than attaching a whole hook,” Rothkopf said. For every sample placed in a basket, the team that put it there gains 16 points. In order for the robot to accomplish this, it must be able to lift up the sample and precisely place it in a basket. This component is led by seniors Rothkopf and Ellis Brown.
Each round is two minutes and thirty seconds. The first thirty seconds of each round is called the autonomous period. Without the use of the controller, and solely relying on code written beforehand with the same goals in mind, the robot must accomplish these tasks independently. The second category is coding. Jack Adee, described as a coding prodigy by a fellow teammate, developed code comparable to google maps. By mapping out the playing field using a graph system, the computer dictating the robot’s actions can calculate where the robot is by measuring the number of rotations made by the wheels on the robot. What separates Parker’s team from the thousands of others around the world is how the code is tailored to the specific robot Parker is using which changes year to year. The vast majority of teams use a code that is generally applicable but less specific, therefore less efficient. This attention to detail and dedication is what placed Parker’s autonomous code, developed by Adee, as seventh best in the world.
In terms of scoring points, on top of placing samples in baskets, a team can attach a hook to a sample making it a specimen, and hang it on a bar.
Another aspect of the competition is Parker’s team and another school’s team are paired up to form an alliance. At the beginning of the competition, these alliances are assigned, and further into the competition, the top six teams can choose allies using a draft system. The teams that do the best individually get first pick in order of their rankings in the competition.
Considering the alliances, there are four robots on the field at a time, two of which are paired to be on the same team. Because of this, things can get backed up if all four robots are trying to accomplish the same task. This is why alliances split the tasks up. “If we both did baskets we’d kind of be crowding the basket,” Rothkopf said.
Parker ended placing in the top six teams individually, so they were able to choose their alliance. Rothkopf explained that the chosen alliance, “did the specimens and we did the samples – so they did the hooks and we did the baskets.”
Parker finished in first place individually which sent them to their next competition.
