The Mt. Hope Robotics teams competed at the RI FTC Robotics Qualifier at The Wheeler School on Saturday, Jan. 7 against eight other Rhode Island teams. Currently, Mt. Hope Robotics is offered as a class and a club, comprised of 19 returning students.

Mt. Hope’s teams (the 652 Underdogs, the 3351 Taterbots, and the 4531 Gearwigs) made connections with other teams, worked together on engineering solutions, and competed with enthusiasm and gracious professionalism.

“The cheering section for MHHS was by far the loudest,” said Marny Kindness, assistant robotics coach.

The Underdogs won first place for the Connect Award (given to the team that most connects with their local STEM community and recognizes that engaging with community is a crucial part of their success). The Taterbots won first place for the Think Award (given to the team that best reflects the journey the team took as they experienced the engineering design process during the build season). The Underdogs and the Gearwigs placed 2nd and 3rd for the Motivate Awards (given to the teams that exemplify the essence of the competition through team building, team spirit and enthusiasm).

The Underdogs and the Taterbots will advance to the RI FTC State Championship in March competing against other teams across Rhode Island.

“A lot of preparation, dedication and determination went into Saturday's event,” said robotics head coach Ryan Garrity. “The students worked through much troubleshooting and problem solving as robots were fine-tuned and showed progressive results throughout the day. The students will be able to build on this knowledge to modify and make adjustments as they see fit in order to achieve success at the Rhode Island FTC State Championship being held on March 4, 2023 at the New England Institute of Technology's Automotive Center.”