Super Qualifier Propels Robotics Teams to Citywide Success

Pink Droyd and the Rolling Drones battle together in an alliance. *Photo: SiQing Lin*

By ANGELA ZOU, YAN CHEN, and SIQING LIN

In a thrilling clash of circuits and creativity, the Rolling Drones and Pink Droyd battled it out at the NYC FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Super Qualifier 2 Competition on February 9 at John Dewey High School.

The event was intense and electrifying. Both teams qualified for March 2’s New York City Championship, with Pink Droyd finishing 11th and Rolling Drones finishing 14th out of the 32 teams.

The February 9 event was a challenge for the teams compared to previous tournaments. This time the competition was of a higher calibre, and the team had to constantly play catch-up under high pressure.

“Our teams performed phenomenally,” said Ms. Lisa Ali, the robotics coach. “The performance was spectacular, the best I've seen them work all season.”

“It was extremely different from our last competition because most of the teams improved a lot,” said Shadman Shadath ‘25, the co-captain of Pink Droyd. “It shows how we can’t stop improving our robots and need to keep on getting better to continue.”

The teams’ strong performance in the early rounds allowed them to choose alliance partners, and the Rolling Drones selected Pink Droyd to team up with against other schools. Together, they combined their skills to earn points through tasks like grabbing, hanging, and scoring objects, showcasing teamwork and strategy.

In a lower bracket match, Pink Droyd’s robot sprinted to the center, grabbing a blue block and hanging it on the bars, while the Rolling Drones’ bot quickly located a yellow block and dropped it into a one-meter-tall bucket. Their seamless coordination gave them an early lead. However, in the final minute, the Drones’ robot flipped over during a daring move and, despite their efforts, time ran out before they could recover. Pink Droyd stayed focused, scoring additional points in the final seconds, but the opposing alliance narrowly secured the win as the buzzer sounded across the gymnasium.

Despite the small loss, the Rolling Drones and Pink Droyd’s strong performance throughout the competition still earned them a spot above the top 16 cut off line, securing their place in the citywide competition. It was a thrilling display of skill and resilience.

“A special moment was when we beat two teams that were in the top five or six,” said Shadath. “For [Pink Droyd] alone, we felt like it was a showcase of how good our robot could be during an actual competition.”

The Super Qualifier experience showed that “even if something doesn’t go our way, there will still be another chance to fix it and improve,” said Sherry Chen ‘25, the co-captain of Botley Crüe, Midwood’s third robotics team, which unfortunately was not able to qualify.

The preparation for the competition was intense and stressful for the teams. The Rolling Drones faced multiple challenges such as insufficient time, code self-deletion, and connection issues. The team made a checklist to make sure all their problems were solved and created a shield to avoid pieces of the robot falling apart and getting stuck, which would incur penalties.

“We were nervous,” said Ivan Markov '25, captain of the Rolling Drones. “Our last competition was a dumpster fire.”

The team members take on additional roles beyond building and directing their robots, such as social media and outreach.

“They are the most hard-working students in Midwood,” said Ms. Ali. “They give so much time and effort into their work. Not only are they programming and designing, they commit a lot of their time to do community outreach.”

Despite the competitive atmosphere at these events, there are still friendly interactions between schools. “I was able to talk to more teams before the matches happened,” said Kiki Teng, a senior from Pink Droyd. “It allowed us to learn more about different teams and their robot functions.”

The two teams kept the momentum from the Super Qualifier going on March 2 at Francis Lewis High School, where the Rolling Drones took 1st place in the Control Award and Promote Award, and the two teams together won the Winning Alliance, setting an NYC high score of 334 in their final match by finishing without any penalties. Their outstanding performance won the teams an invite to a national tournament in Houston this April.

Under those brightly shining lights, armed with their wrenches, code, and boundless imagination, these innovative students look ready to show us a glimpse of the times to come.