COLUMBUS, Ind. — A local robotics team is off to a bumpy start this season but looking to gain momentum in the coming weeks.
Team 4926 — also known as GalacTech — competed at Penn High School in Mishawaka on March 4 and 5, the team’s first tournament this year. Thirty four teams from Indiana and Michigan participated in the event, according to For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Indiana Robotics.
The local team was 4-8 in qualifications and was chosen by another team to be part of their alliance for the event playoffs, which was held as a double-elimination style tournament. The winning alliance was CyberTooth (Team 3940, Kokomo), Westside Boiler Invasion (Team 461, West Lafayette) and the Tindley Trailblazers (Team 6721, Indianapolis).
“Basically, we went up there with a robot that wasn’t as capable as we would like to have been,” said Columbus Robotics president and Team 4926 founder Sam Geckler.
He said that they spent most of the qualification matches working out bugs and trying to find the right strategy on the field to attract an alliance captain. He added that they “gave it a good effort” during playoffs, and overall, students had a good experience at the event.
GalacTech’s next competition will be at Lafayette Jefferson High School on March 25 and 26.
For more on this story, and more photos, see Thursday’s Republic.
