On Sunday, February 16, the MTA Robotics Teams, Lionotics and Lionotics 2, participated in their third competition of the year at the FIRST Tech Super Regionals. The teams worked hard over the past few months to create the best possible robots, using MTA’s state of the art STEM Lab, which has a dedicated room for the robotics teams with specialized tools and equipment.
The teams went into the competition expecting great things, but even they were impressed by how well their robots performed. Prior to the Super Qualifier, both teams had performed really well. In the first competition of the year, both robots made it to the finals, but only Lionotics was victorious and earned a spot in the Super Qualifier. Lionotics 2 made up for the loss in its next regular qualifier, where the team was ranked number one out of 30+ teams in the ranking section and came in second during the finals. The team also won an award for innovative design for developing a system that enables the robot to scan the field with a camera for a specific game element and then pick it up.
As soon as the teams arrived at the Super Qualifier, they got to work doing last minute tweaks and adjustments to the robot. The testing went well, although some of the other robots looked intimidating. During the matches, Lionotics started to gain momentum, winning match after match and ending the ranking section in third place out of 24 teams. Lionotics 2 didn’t fare as well and landed in 19th place. Nevertheless, the second tier team saw Lionotics 2’s potential and picked them to join their alliance. In the championships, both Lionotics teams played against each other, but Lionoticts 2 emerged victorious. Lionotics 2’s alliance lost in the last championship round in a very close, nail biting game leaving the alliance in second place. In the award ceremony, both teams advanced to the NYC championship with Lionotics 2 getting a nomination for the design award.
Congratulations to both teams for an amazing showing on Sunday, and good luck to both Lionotics and Lionotics 2 in the NYC championship on March 8!
If you are interested in sponsoring MTA’s robotics teams or are looking for guidance in starting your own team, please email [email protected].
By Zack Mankowitz (‘20)
