On October 3rd to 5th, the Boba Bots had their first competition of the school year at Woodside High School called CalGames. They ranked 23rd out of 39 teams with a 7-7 record and played until the semifinals. The team also took home the Imagery Award for their astounding branding. Despite many challenges coming their way, they were able to overcome adversity and deliver success.
The Imagery Award recognizes not only the team’s design, presentation, and branding, but also their positivity in group work. They faced many challenges and spent late hours working together as a team. With the team’s positive attitude and support, they were able to get to the semifinals.
To analyze matches and performances, Drive Coach and Construction Lead Karthik Joshi (11) meets with other members of their team who discuss their match using scouter data (which comes from members in the bleachers who take note of other teams’ performances).These discussions allow the team to strategize and improve for every match.
“The most challenging part of robotics was during my freshman year when the robot would keep breaking down,” Joshi (11) said. “It really taught me a good lesson that nothing comes easy and you always have to work hard for everything even if you have a really good robot or a really bad robot.”
In order to analyze and plan out the game, Ziao Liang (12) the Strategy and Scouting Lead shares how the team worked towards winning the Imagery Award. “Our team has historically been pretty good at winning the Imagery and Spirit Awards. We put lots of focus into imagery as well, which other teams seem to neglect.”
Olive Aguilar (12), the Media and Outreach Lead, is in charge of the camera equipment, including making sure they get photos and videos taken at various outreach events and competitions. During competition, she answers questions from the judges about what they do inside the team, particularly their media side and social media. Aguilar played a key role in securing the team’s Imager Award through these conversations.
She answered, “I feel very supported by my team members, as well as the people in the leadership alongside me. They know exactly what to say and do in order to make sure everybody’s very positive.”
Ayushi Swami (12), one of the team’s Electronics Leads, scouted and worked in the pit at CalGames, where she helped to repair the robot between matches. She explains how special the team is to her, saying,, “This team is so special because of how much time we put into it by staying until 7 p.m., working including the weekend. Seeing that dedication from everybody else is just so special.”
The Boba Bots hard work and dedication continue to lead them to success. Despite many challenges, the team supported one another and demonstrated the collaboration that earned them the Imagery Award.
