Shouts and cheers echo within the walls of the Big Gym as spectators fill the bleachers to watch teams and their robots compete for a spot at State. Intensified by music and the announcer’s booming voice, the tournament had both teams on edge.

On Saturday, February 9, Parker hosted the Chicago North League Championship for FTC (First Tech Challenge) robotics. The tournament consisted of 21 Upper School robotics teams, including Parker’s first-year team “Frank’s Garage,” and the more experienced team “Robotheosis.” The teams competed for a spot in the top four: an automatic qualifier for the State Tournament.

“We’re a really hard-working team and we want to make our school and ourselves proud,” senior and captain of the “Robotheosis” team Isabel Olesinski said before the competition. “That’s why so many people on the team have been doing this for such a long time.”

Both Parker teams have been constantly building then revising their robots since the beginning of the school year. 

“Just this past weekend, we rebuilt a new robot specifically for this meet,” Robotics Coach and Upper School computer science teacher Aaron Lee said. “We’ve been limping along with our old one, which was doing quite well, but we’ve had a bigger design in mind and it works… this should be the most complex robot we’ve built and hopefully the best.”

Sophomore Star Rothkopf agrees. “Throughout the season we do a lot of different versions of the same robot, we’re basically deconstructing and reconstructing all the time… Our robot’s looking really sexy right now.”

In addition to competing, the Parker teams have been putting in extra hours to plan the entire event. 

“We have to do all this work in terms of setting up, and we have all these expectations on how the tournament needs to be run and what we need to provide for the teams— and that takes a lot of work,” junior Benji Gourdji said just weeks before the tournament. “There aren’t that many people in Illinois who want to host tournaments, so the fact that we do it shows ‘gracious professionalism.’ We’re willing to put on one of the best staffed and locationed tournaments.”

On Saturday, Parker’s gym transformed in preparation for the championship. The hallways were lined with signs directing volunteers to their break rooms and promoting the tournament. 

The Draft Gym hosted “The Pit,” where teams have the opportunity to revise their robots. Students in an array of colorful matching t-shirts milled about with their teams at their assigned table and took breaks from the intense matches taking place downstairs.

Cheers and music emanated from the second floor Big Gym as audience members ranging in age from kindergarteners to grandparents rooted for their school. The bleachers were nearly full, as was the basketball court where the competitions took place. Two “fields” were situated on either side of the gym surrounded by the judges’ tables where the teams have to pass an inspection of their robot and give a presentation of their work to the FTC judges. In between the two fields, shining silver trophies and medals served as a beacon to drive the teams.

The next ten hours of the day were spent in and out of matches, which were displayed on a center projector in the gym as well as on many television screens around the school. 

Only three students from each team are permitted on the field during a match. Two are the “drivers,” responsible for driving the robot, while the other acts as a “coach,” advising the drivers when necessary and communicating with their team and other allied teams.

As teams squared off in head-to-head matches, they also cooperated with other teams via “Alliances.” The Alliance system was created by FTC to encourage teamwork and good sportsmanship.

Two Alliances, a total of four robots, compete head-to-head in a match. A match consists of a 30-second Autonomous (pre-programmed) period and a two-minute Driver-Controlled Period. Each team can gain points for their Alliance by successfully completing tasks that involve stacking large lego-like blocks onto a foundation. Extra points can be earned by completing various other side challenges.

In the end, both Parker teams faced off in the finals against one another, with Robotheosis coming out in the victorious Alliance with the team “STEMper Fi.” On top of being a top-ranking team, they also won the design award. In under a month, Robotheosis will be competing in the State competition.