Robotics Students Learn Through Competition

By Michael Chiafulio

Forty-two Xavier students comprising 10 teams competed head-to-head in the 12th Annual Xavier Autonomous Robotics Tournament. This year’s game, "The Attack on the Death Star," required the competing robots to identify the color of a pile of poms and deliver those poms to the appropriately colored PVC bin. Once a colored pom was delivered to the proper bin, a door on the Death Star would open, and the teams' other robot could shoot or deposit "lasers" (red-colored LEGO pieces) into the Death Star. Teams were awarded points for number of poms delivered to the correct bin, number of lasers striking the Death Star, and number of lasers entering the Death Star. (To view a video about the Robotics Tournament, click here.)

In the end, the first-seeded team of Jack Abbruzzese ’16, Spencer Letizia ’16, Liam Hibbits ’16, and Ian Dopsch ’16 lost in a close final round to the team of Michael Popovech ’16, Kasper Grispino ’16, Michael Bohorquez ’16, and Gabriel Lopez ’16. The winners took home semi-automatic NERF guns. The top teams will now lead Xavier in a quest for our sixth NY/NJ Regional Botball Championship in May.