Truckee Robotics gears up for regional tournament
The Truckee Robotics Team completed its regular season in the FIRST Tech Challenge, and with a fifth-place league ranking has qualified for the Northern Nevada League Tournament.
FIRST Tech Challenge teams design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in head-to-head matches. The Truckee Robotics Team reformed in September as a rookie team with all new members.
“I’m really excited for our future as a high school team,” said Head Coach Josh Levinger. “Since we’re a young team, we have an exciting three years of growth ahead of us.”
The team designed a competition robot in the fall and experienced early success in this season’s game, FREIGHT FRENZY, presented by Raytheon Technologies. Truckee Robotics was ranked first in the Northern Nevada League after the initial meet on Nov. 17.
Engineering difficulties and closures due to winter weather and COVID-19 led to a challenging close of the season. The team’s standing slipped to fifth place by the end of the final meet, which was held Saturday in Virginia City.
Despite the disappointing final performance, the team grew and worked together to improve its design. Members built a new robotic arm and experimented with various 3D-printing techniques.
“It was fun being able to work together as a team to get the shipping block on the third level for the first time in competition,” said team member Lance Wogsland, who is a freshman at Truckee High School.
The Truckee Robotics Team meets three times a week and is open to high school students, with no experience required.
The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills inspiring innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities, including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Truckee’s Robotics Team will next gear up for the Northern Nevada League Tournament, which will be held Feb. 18-19 in Reno. For updates, follow the team on Instagram at @truckeerobotics.
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