31-03-2025
Dougherty County robotics teams compete in district robotics competition. 4C Academy takes home the prize
ALBANY — Four Albany schools' robotics teams competed in a district robotics competition at the Albany Civic Center, Friday and Saturday.
Dougherty Comprehensive High School's TroTek Warriors, Monroe Comprehensive High School's Terminators, Westover Comprehensive High School's Flying Riots and the Commodore Conyers College & Career Academy's Commodores all competed in matches. GeorgiaFIRST Robotics partnered with host, Procter & Gamble to put on the Peachtree District Qualifier, which saw 26 competing teams.
Levent Gokcen , the senior manager for P&G and a member of the GeorgiaFIRST Board of Directors offered the students words of wisdom before they kicked off the competition.
'All the same things that you guys are using here on your robots are the same things that are powering the world,' Gokcen said. 'There's something that you guys have … that's going to continue to make you the work force for tomorrow and the talent for tomorrow. That trait is curiosity.'
Gokcen joked that the students making up the robotics teams would one day rule the world.
'Never lose that curiosity. It started out as when you were a kid. You try and take things apart to see how they work,' he said. 'As you grow older and as you start your career as adults, don't ever lose that curiosity. It's going to lead to a wonderful life in the future, and it's going to make the innovation and the inventions of tomorrow.'
As the clock counted down to the start of the first match, teammates waved their flags and cheered in the stands. On the arena floor, the students had a focus that seemed almost as programmed as the robots they created.
Six teams were split between two 'alliances' for the first matches. They used controllers to move robots around a ReefScape Course that was designed by the Haas Automation Inc. company. Students programmed their robots to be able to lift tubes and place them on a spiky object designed to look like a coral reef. The robots had to pick up and move balls and attach to and swing from a dangling cage. The teams that did this the quickest and with the most accuracy won.
Each teammate had their role, moving with a quick efficiency. The robots sped around the course, dancing around each other. If one robot needed aid, another came to its rescue. The matches ended before onlookers fully understood what they'd just witnessed. Game hosts announced the winner and the arena was cleared and prepared for the next match.
After two days of matches and fun, the 4C Academy's Commodores took home the prize as district event winners, with two allied teams, and recipients of the District FIRST Impact Award.
This latter award is the most prestigious award at FIRST, honoring the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.
The recipient team will be invited to the district championship where it will compete for the FIRST Impact Award against winners from other qualifying events and compete with their robot.
