Robots, Pokemon, Action!

By Neil Kale, WHS Class of '21

On October 21, 13 robots from across New England came together at Westborough High School to battle it out at Bay State Brawl. The student emcees, dressed in Pokemon onesies, kicked off the event screaming “Are you ready to BRAWL!” Cheering spectators made it very clear that they were more than ready to get started! With a shout-out to teams from Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and “the best state”, Massachusetts, the tournament was on.

The high school gym was divided into two parts. In the pits, students and mentors worked together to fix their battered robots after grueling matches. In the stadium housing the playing field, the audience watched as robots took each other on in fast-paced 3 v. 3 matches. On the pits’ side, a sense of collaboration and unity was present between the teams. When Team 4048 from Westborough needed a hammer to fix their robot, Team 78 provided it. Students and curious spectators wandered around the pit, looking at the amazing robots that teams had built. Each team had a sense of pride in their creation, and it was a great opportunity to see what other teams had done.

In the stadium side of the gym, things were much more competitive. With the emcees hyping the crowd, everyone was cheering for their team and there was even some dancing. As one young spectator put it, “”I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s fun!” Even R5-D4, a Star Wars droid, made a special appearance at the event!

The robots’ challenge was very complicated this year. As explained by Pablo Castilla, a junior on the Westborough robotics team, “For the first 15 seconds of the match, you program your robot to move a certain distance and try to put a gear onto a peg. Then, you have two minutes for your robot to be remote-controlled to pick up gears and put them on pins, or shoot balls into a goal. Then at the end of the match, a human will release a rope from a tower, and if your robot can climb up the rope, you’ll score additional points.” Clearly, it was no easy feat to build or maneuver these robots! That being said, the challenge was what made the event so much fun.

Bay State Brawl is becoming a big name in robotics. Steve Cremer, the regional director of FIRST, a national robotics organization, was very impressed with the event and how well put together it was. Although robotics isn’t a conventional sport, BSB drew crowds that matched those of any other school sports event. It seems that Bay State Brawl was not only a phenomenal success this year, but that it will keep this reputation in years to come.