On Friday, March 1, over 40 students from all grade levels suddenly left school at noon. They weren’t skipping school or going to a walkout. Instead, they were getting on a four-hour bus ride to Blacksburg, Virginia, to compete in the Week 1 Blacksburg event for the FIRST Robotics Competition. 

The Arlington Career Center is home to the KoiBots, a dedicated robotics team that meets nearly every day of the week – yes, even Saturday. Since 2019, they have competed in FRC by building a robot in 8 weeks and going up against over a hundred other teams in the Chesapeake District. This year, the game was called Crescendo. It was a music-themed game where bots scored “notes” in “speakers” and “amplifiers” to get points. 

The KoiBots, armed with their robot named Anglerfish, reached Blacksburg on Friday night and had a team dinner in preparation for the days to come. Early Saturday morning, everyone left the hotel to go to Blacksburg High School, the place where the games would be played. The second match was the KoiBots’ first game. They played for the Red Alliance but lost 10-29. Unfortunately, they broke their intake (used to pick up game pieces) and bumpers (a safety feature necessary for permission to play) and couldn’t participate in their next match. 

The next few games were chock-full of technical and mechanical issues, but they continuously pulled through due to the efforts of the pit crew. Eventually, the team decided to focus on mobility and began to play defense. The bot’s driver, sophomore Xander Haywood, was complimented by multiple teams for his skills in maneuvering a barely functioning bot so well. Over Discord, a driver from team 1629 GaCo said that Xander “played such good defense, w driver tbh.” Even one of the adults, a mentor for team 449 The Blair Robot Project, said that we “served a crucial role in [their] alliance.”

Due to the issues with the bumpers and mechanical components early in the competition, the day ended with the KoiBots having won five of their eleven games. The following day, KoiBots played three more matches before teams chose their alliances which are made up of three bots. As there were 25 teams total, there would be eight alliances with one bot saved as a backup in case any of the other teams’ bots broke. The KoiBots were unfortunately not chosen for an alliance due to Anglerfish’s lack of functionality. However, Alliance One, composed of teams 9496 LYNK, 1885 Comet, and 449 The Blair Robot Project, had a malfunction with Comet’s bot. The KoiBots subbed in, creating an alliance of four. Due to Xander’s defense, LYNK’s offense, and Blair’s speedy support, Alliance One rocketed to the top of the bracket, winning the competition. 

Aside from obtaining a blue ribbon, the KoiBots also received the award for Gracious Professionalism (being good sports). The team cheered not only for their own alliances, but others as well, even joining cheers for 1086 Blue Cheese, among others. All of the cheering and props were organized and made by the students themselves. The KoiBots pride themselves on being student-organized. Junior Ilana Hoffer organized transportation with minimal adult supervision, for example.

The KoiBots’ next competition is in Falls Church, VA, in a few weeks. In that amount of time, the team is redesigning their bot in an attempt to resolve some of its issues. Keep an eye on the team’s performance here, and look out for future articles about the team!