Gearing up for weekend robotics tourney

Student peers into inner workings of robot

Members of the Albany High School Robotics Team and their robot Dr. K were in school at 7 a.m. Tuesday, getting in some practice runs before the upcoming New York Tech Valley Regional FIRST Robotics competition starts Friday at MVP Arena.

In a drive field transformed from an old art classroom, students steered Dr. K, fed it inflatable cubes and maneuvered it to shoot the cubes into designated areas – one of the primary challenges of this year’s competition.

Almost 50 teams from as near as Colonie and as far as China will be competing at MVP Arena at the event, a regional contest of this international high school robotics competition.

Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots complete tasks such as scoring balls into goals, placing inner tubes onto racks, hanging on bars, and balancing robots on balance beams. The game, along with the required set of tasks, changes each year.

You’ll be able to cheer on the Falcon team and watch the competition via livestream in two ways: https://www.techvalleyfirst.org/index.php?page=webcast or https://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2023nytr