The RFA Robotics teams are getting ready for the Northern NY State Championship. At this year's championship two teams will be competing.
RFA's "B-Team" has finished the regular tournament season strong. One of the highlights for this mostly freshman team was a 4th place finish in the Liverpool tournament. At the end of the season, they were ranked 20th on the skills list out of the 62 ranked Northern NY teams.
The "A-Team" had two top-10 finishes. The team has been competitive with the top teams in the Northern NY region.
This year’s game, "Over/Under," has the teams flinging or pushing acorn-shaped "tri balls" across the field into their goal. Meanwhile, they need to play defense to keep opponents out of the other goal. Since the game was announced last year, the students have been learning engineering concepts, designing, coding, and testing. Both teams have rebuilt and enhanced their robots several times this season.
In addition to the technical skills, the students also must master soft skills. Leadership, time management, communication, and critical thinking are immensely important. At competition tournaments, all the teams are randomly shuffled into alliances. The teams must work with people from across Northern NY. Communications, negotiating and planning with other teams is an important part of the winning formula.
Albert Bangs, RFA Technology Teacher, and Robotics Team Coach
