On Sunday, October 20, 2024 Clark’s robotics team, the Circuit Breakers–Team 696, got their first preseason win! Tidal Tumble, held in Ventura, spanned from October 18 to 20. After dominating the competition last year, the Circuit Breakers brought back a second consecutive win from the same competition, with Clark’s robot ranking in the top 20, out of 48 teams. From over 60 rounds to the final 3, Clark’s amazing robotics team pulled through and brought home an incredible victory.
“Winning feels amazing! We weren’t sure if we would win since there were some great teams there, but in the end we did. It’s funny because some of the teams that we were competing against actually practiced in our field at Clark,” robotics teacher Aram Ohanis said.
Ever since the new robotics building opened on campus on January 9th of this year, Mr. Ohanis and his team of students have put their all into making new robots every year to be able to participate in competitions. Students would stay after school, sometimes even until midnight, to prepare for the competitions and work to make the robots.
The competition consisted of intense games between teams of robots. The objective of the games was to use the robot built by the team to collect game pieces scattered around the field and throw them in certain goals to score points all within 2 minutes and 15 seconds. At the end of the time limit, their points were counted and the team with the most points was declared the winner.“It felt very rewarding. During the match we had a lot of fun. The only part that was a little stressful was the anticipation to see if we won, but when we turned around and saw that we won, it felt unreal,” senior Kian Rahbari, the driver of the A-bot, said.
Kian was accompanied by junior Emeri Saetier, a second-year robotics student, as the operator during the matches. While Kian drives the robot, Emeri controls it by picking up and throwing the game pieces into the goal. Although this was her first time operating the robot at a real competition, Saetier did an amazing job, and all her hard work and determination while practicing brought her team to victory. “There was a lot of pressure on me and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I’m just so glad we won and everything turned out great,” junior Emeri Saetier said.
Between programming, building, and driving the robot, it is apparent how much effort and care Clark’s robotics team puts into each competition. From working all throughout class, to staying late after school, it is evident how devoted each student is, ultimately leading them to victory.
By winning this competition and bringing home such a powerful victory, it gives immense hope that Team 696 will bring back many more victories from future competitions. Good luck to our amazing Clark students on the robotics team!
