For countless weeks, the four Portledge robotics teams have been collaboratively building, designing, and coding incredible robots and finally had the opportunity to compete for qualifying titles later in the season. The first qualifier came on Saturday, January 18th, where Team 7417, Portledge Robotics, Team 22692, Portledge Duct Tape and Pizza Bots, Team 11649, Portledge Robo Time, and the Long Island championship qualifying team, Team 8818, Portledge Hit the Switch, all faced challenges and still had a successful competition. These teams compete against schools across Long Island from varying divisions and continue to make their mark.

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Portledge Hit the Switch ended up with an undefeated competition, scoring 9-0-0  and winning the entire qualifier; those statistics have never been obtained in Portledge's robotics history! This almost entirely senior team even took home the Design Award, which “celebrates the team that demonstrates industrial design principles, striking a balance between form, function, and aesthetics.” Senior captain, driver, and builder Jeremy Cox (Class of 2025) excitedly said, “I feel a great sense of euphoria winning this qualifier because knowing it’s never been done before and spending all of that time working on this robot makes me feel so connected to it. The best part of this has been having such success with my fellow seniors on the team, whom I have been learning about for so long. Being a senior in this team has allowed me to use my understanding of the engineering design process and share that knowledge with the first-year students around me. I am forever grateful for Mr. Nelson, Mr. Coleman, our parent mentors, and the Portledge robotics program. This experience has been incredible, and I cannot wait to apply the skills I learned here for the rest of my life.”

 

Portledge Robotics even obtained a considerable victory, earning the Control Award, which “celebrates a team that uses sensors and software to increase the robot’s functionality during gameplay. This award is given to the team that demonstrates innovative thinking and solutions to solve game challenges such as autonomous operation, improving mechanical systems with intelligent control, or using sensors to achieve better results.” The final qualifier of the 2025 season took place on Sunday, February 2nd, which proved to be a challenging event. Unfortunately, some teams struggled throughout the day, having some very tough matches, and could not execute their strategy as well as they had in their practices at school. Ultimately, Portledge Robotics came to join Portledge Hit the Switch and qualified for the Long Island championship. In a few weeks, the robotics program is confident that these two teams will succeed in these problematic competitions. Please wish them luck, and we will update you soon!