Bluebots

Poly’s inaugural robotics team qualifies for States

Kyle Williams ’23 and his brother, Jaden Williams ’25 connected an arm to the robot. Nearby, MaKiyah Turner-Hicks ’24 intently worked on the coding. Seated at another station, eighth grader Alex Basham explained his design for other aspects of the robot. He’d used the Makerspace’s 3D printer to create a wheel that would soon be incorporated into the body. Computer Science teacher and founding Robotics Coach Kristin Guynn wound her way through the room watching intently, asking questions, offering advice, and delivering praise.

Three days a week, more than a dozen dedicated students rush into the Makerspace to meet with Guynn, one of Poly’s newest Computer Science teachers. Together, with Assistant Coach Dan Costello, Tech Support Specialist, this group composes the new Varsity Robotics Team. On this day, their first intramural competition was only a few weeks away and there was a lot to do.

The team surrounds the first iteration of their robot.

Kristin Guynn charted an impressive path on her way to Poly. In addition to launching a technology program at her previous school, she worked with the Google Educators Group and CSEd research team, as well as Girls Who Code. Guynn also co-founded Mind.Code.Create, a non-profit mindfulness and tech incubator for Black and Latinx youth. At Poly, she quickly set about inspiring her students and building a team. There was a lot to live up to. The most recent Poly Varsity team also launched from the Computer Science Department. Esports became national champions in their first year and recently defended their Rocket League title.

Kyle Williams was part of the robotics club in ninth grade, but it did not last, so he was glad to hear about the new Robotics Team. “I’m joining with a wealth of knowledge on programming gained through the pandemic,” he said, “but am still very new to applying my knowledge. I plan to simply throw myself into it all and figure it out as I go.”

“The one large project that we’re working on is constructing a robot for the FIRST Tech Challenge,” Turner-Hicks explained. “For the challenge, we have to create a robot that can navigate around obstacles, carry and transport cargo of various weights, and interact with other objects on the competition area. The Robotics Team has divided itself into different, smaller groups to make it all more manageable; some of us program, some build the robot, some are in charge of wiring, and a few 3D print additional pieces for aesthetics and functionality. It’s all very collaborative and exciting. I am working on the autonomous portion of the competition with the programming team to create multiple sequences for us to use during the competition.”

MaKiyah Turner-Hicks ’24 prepares the robot for its first task while competitors and spectators from 15 schools look on.

“We have an impressive robot but it is nowhere near as impressive as the character and grit that these kids have shown!”

—COACH GUYNN

Coach Guynn counsels MaKiyah Turner-Hicks ’24 and Selena Wu ’25

“I think autonomy is going to be a very interesting problem to solve,” said Williams, “as a lot is going on all at once during a match and we need to balance time and point priorities while keeping code clean and the robot’s actions consistent.”

Annakaecia Clarke ’25 has always loved technology and coding so joining the Robotics Team was a natural fit for her. She was first introduced to this subject in sixth grade where she coded a robot to display lights in the shape of different emoticons. Clarke is looking forward to competing with other schools. “Although winning is a big part of the competition,” she said, “I am also excited to see the dynamic of the event and how schools went about building their own robots. Along with this, the competition can provide me with an outside sense of ‘the world of robotics’ and how it’s important in other people’s lives.”

Asked if he is looking forward to competing against other schools, Williams said very enthusiastically, “Yes! We’re going up against a lot of schools who have been ‘keeping it in the family’ for years, so it’s going to be a bit of an uphill battle, but I think we can do it!”

The Results

The Poly team progressed rapidly following their first scrimmage. They didn’t do well, but they weren’t discouraged. They learned a lot and knew they had to work harder to compete against seasoned teams from Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech who have been participating in robotics meets for decades. Over the course of several weeks, the Poly team spent every spare moment in the Makerspace and had a build session with Cornell Tech Grad students who offer advice and answer technical questions for New York robotics teams. “As a founding team (and the only novice team at our first match) we have a really steep learning curve,” said Guynn. “We placed second to last. Just about everything that could go wrong that day did, but to say that our team rose to the challenge would be an understatement. Fast forward to our final regular season match and we qualified for the state championships. We have an impressive robot but it is nowhere near as impressive as the character and grit that these kids have shown!” In March, the Bluebots compete at States and hope for a chance to go to Nationals in Houston, TX in April, a rare accomplishment for a new team. We’re cheering them on.

BLUEBOTS TEAM

Alex Basham ’26, Annakaecia Clarke ’25, Siming Fu ’23, Nyjah Harrison ’24, Tesvara Jiang ’23, Nikash Khanna ’24, Harrison Lucas ’25, Grace Moore ’26, Holden Pawlak ’24, Owen Samra ’24, MaKiyah Turner-Hicks ’24, Jayden Williams ’25, Kyle Williams ’23, Selena Wu ’25