Ursuline’s Robotics Team, Robots in Plaid, continues to break barriers.
Exactly seventy years ago, the first modern robot was created. It had a very simple design that featured a programmable arm to automate production lines. Since then, robots have become increasingly more intricate and complex, as well as much more widespread, making their way into almost all aspects of our lives and to every industry imaginable. The Ursuline Robotics Team, Robots in Plaid, works to design and develop a robot to compete in the annual First Inspired Tech Challenge. Each year this competition consists of a unique and challenging course full of obstacles that the robot must navigate in order to score points. The competition promotes the importance of creative thinking to explore new and innovative ideas to maximize potential for scoring points and winning rounds.
This year, Robots in Plaid worked diligently to create a working robot with a reliable scoring mechanism. This feat was made more difficult because they had graduated many of their older and more experienced members last year, and for many it was the first time creating the robot independently. Despite this challenge, the team came together and produced a unique, versatile robot that performed very well at competition! The team went 4-2, placing 10th in a highly competitive field, and they came close to making finals.
One unique characteristic of the Robots in Plaid is that they were the only all-girls team at this competition. Ursuline encourages its students to become more involved in STEM fields and UA girls eagerly embrace this challenge. For example, Ursuline has been a recipient of the Dual AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for three consecutive years. This dedication to exploring new technology is clearly exhibited by the nature of Robots in Plaid. Their hard work directly relates to Saint Angela’s mission to empower young women, as this team is able to thrive and break barriers as the only all-girls team in a mostly male dominated field.
Robots in Plaid meets twice a week in Ursuline’s iHub, a center that encourages innovative ideas to come to light through the guidance of the iHub’s director, Ms. Osiecki, and the use of technology such as 3D-Printers and laser-cutters. The environment is a key part of this effort, as it provides team members with a creative and collaborative space in which to brainstorm new ideas and to develop the robot. In this space, the team has many exciting memories exploring and expanding their robotics knowledge through trial and error. Eliza Sicard ‘25, a member of Robots in Plaid, shared that “coding the robot to move side to side was a big accomplishment for us because it was the first thing we coded ourselves. It was truly a team effort with all of us huddled around the code and the robot together, pointing out things we noticed and bouncing ideas off of each other to troubleshoot.”
The team’s effort and perseverance clearly highlights the dynamic nature of the team, which embodies the cooperative spirit of Ursuline as a whole. By working together and sharing ideas and observations, the team was able to achieve great results when it came time to score points and win matches at their competitions.
Robots in Plaid encompasses the core skills of teamwork and collaboration, which are essential to many aspects of life that expand far beyond the robotics field. Their teamwork, dedication, and enthusiasm demonstrate that by working together as a team, there are no goals they can’t reach. Not only are Robots in Plaid successful at building and programming creative robots, they are exemplary at building a welcoming and collaborative community full of opportunities to learn and grow as a team.
