The Oakdale Robotics season ended on March 1, where the team placed with a win in the solo category and a high placement in the versus category. The robotics team is pleased with their performance this season. “This season went way better than the last few seasons,” said senior Michael Leonnig. 

The competition is played on a 12×12 foot square field. Two teams with two groups each compete in a 15-second automatic control period, where the robot moves and does actions automatically, and then a one minute and forty-five second controlled period, where the operators of the robot are in control of it’s actions. The objective is to score more triballs into the goal than the other team.

This season’s robot design was unique, as instead of building a robot that moved the triballs by pushing it into the goal, the Oakdale robotics team built a robot that flings the balls into the goal. 

“How we moved the triball was really important for us this season,” Scott Corbett, 12th grade, explained. 

The team faced some fierce competition, with many good designs from other teams. There was an emphasis on the operators themselves being efficient at handling the triballs due to this factor. 

“If you drop a ball it’s over for your match,” Corbett noted. 

The robotics competition encourages students to think outside the box and find new and innovative ways to overcome problems in order to meet the objective. With every championship being the highlight of most students’ year, the Oakdale robotics team makes sure to give it their all every year.