Columbus’ local high school robotics team was part of the runner-up alliance at an off-season event.
Team 4926 or “GalacTech” competed at the Boiler Bot Battle in Lafayette this past Saturday alongside roughly 30 other robotics teams and made it to the event finals.
According to Columbus Robotics president and Team 4926 founder Sam Geckler, GalacTech was 3-2 during qualification matches and was chosen by the eighth-seeded alliance to join them in playoffs.
The group then beat the top-seeded alliance in quarterfinals and advanced to the finals, where they lost to an alliance made up of Teams 234 (Cyber Blue – Indianapolis), 3940 (CyberTooth – Kokomo), 9989 (Tiger Dynasty – Fishers) and 868 (TechHOUNDS – Carmel).
“It was a really strong field with all the State Championship alliance members there and several teams from Wisconsin and Illinois!” said Geckler.
The Boiler Bot Battle is an annual off-season competition organized by Purdue For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Programs, a student organization and class at Purdue University. The event brings FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams together to compete in the previous season’s game, which in this case is “Rapid React.”
GalacTech will also compete at “IndyRAGE” (Raising Awareness for Girls in Engineering) this coming Saturday at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis.
According to Team 234 or “Cyber Blue” from Perry Meridian, “IndyRAGE is a unique event as it ties the FIRST competition together with an event focused on girls. Female motivational speakers and an open discussions led by women in STEM fields will give girls the opportunity to ask questions and get motivated about engineering and other STEM fields.”
Team 4926 has competed at IndyRAGE in the past and was part of the winning alliance in both 2017 and 2019.
