M-A’s robotics team, Team 766, hosted their annual Mechanical M-Ayhem competition in Ayers Gym on Saturday. Teams made up of rookies decked out their robots with various builds to match the high-seas havoc pirate theme. Seven schools were invited to compete, with various teams within each school. Rookies revised their robots over the past three months in preparation for the competition.
Mechanical M-Ahyem allows the robotics team to gain traction and recruit more members in a competition specifically for rookies. After months of tireless preparation, rookies get to reap their rewards and taste their success at the competition. “It’s been a pretty long process, but they’ve come out better or worse,” senior veteran Kapil Ayyar said.
On top of the rookies working, veterans of the M-A robotics club diligently prepared the stage. They worked from Friday night until Saturday morning, planning everything, buying food and drinks for the robotics members, and even recruiting a crew of volunteers to help micromanage and clean the stage after every game.
As friends and family began to fill the stands, teams prepared their robots by having them inspected, checking for any potentially hazardous parts, and updating software. Most teams were still scrambling to put together or revise their robot due to errors during inspection.
The competition consists of three sections, all of which have the opportunity to earn points. The first phase was the autonomy phase, where robots got a chance to drive via a prewritten code. If the program ran successfully, the team earned points. Next was the teleop phase. Drivers would have the chance to drive their robots using a manually operated controller, and score points by picking up and shooting balls into one of two goals in the middle of the court. Finally, in the endgame, robots would shoot balls into a small hoop called the kraken. Shooting successfully into the hoop awarded ten points per ball.
The competition began at 9:00 a.m., the various robotics teams were split into two alliances – red and blue where they would fight each other in round robin. At first, teams struggled to figure things out, strategies were basic, and many robots failed to work. In the first match, none of the blue alliance’s robots were working. However, due to the red team scoring the wrong colored cannonballs, the blue team managed to win 12-0, despite having broken robots.
After the first few games, many teams started to get the hang of it and employed new strategies. Woodside High School’s Team 1002’s strategy of prioritizing quantity over quality was successful, utilizing quick speed to drop balls into the goal. Quarry Lane High School’s Team 7419 had a strategic method of quality shots, carefully utilizing specialized motors to aim the ball perfectly shot after shot. Various teams realized that they could prevent other robots from scoring by blocking them.
The crowd was very supportive with big posters and chants, showing off school spirit and helping to boost the overall mood as the competition continued.
After the qualifiers came to an end, teams lined up in order of points and selected their alliances, which they would keep to compete in a final showdown.
The final matches were heated, with teams debating the best strategies and teamwork methods. In the finals, Team 7419 and Team 1002 found themselves paired up against the rivaling Team 1001 and Team 1003. Both sides had consistent shots, and team spirit was at a high as the robots competed for the win. Students anxiously watched the screen, awaiting the final results.
Team 7419 and Team 1002 barely defeated their rivals with a final score of 129-122. After the competitive match, they celebrated their win and were awarded with prizes.
“It’s been a really fun experience. We haven’t been winning a lot, but we have been learning a lot,” freshman rookie Dylan Fong said. ”For the future, it teaches us to be a little more proactive because we have a lot of issues that I feel like we could have spotted beforehand.” Although none of the M-A teams won, they found it to be a valuable experience that will help them prepare for future competitions.
Mechanical M-Ayhem is a way for the robotic teams to show their rookies what they should look forward to every year as they begin their robotics journey. “You have to tell them, ‘Hey, you’re going to spend two to three months working on something. And we promise this thing at the end will be cool,’” mentor Justin Parks said. “Every student that actually makes it to the competition, almost all of them stick around to the following year because of that energy.”
The spirit, energy, and good sportsmanship of Mechanical M-Ayhem are unforgettable. Rookies, veterans, mentors, and parents alike all walked out of the Ayers Gym with new experiences and perspectives to robotics.
