The Lancer Robotics team competed in the final VEX competition, Pan Pacific, was held on Dec. 3 at the Hawaii Convention Center.

The team, comprised of the Robotics class and club, spent days preparing for the event.

“Friday was qualification matches,” said sophomore Dominique Dold. “We had five qualification matches and we won one of the matches. The base of our robot was unbalanced and uneven, but after Lindsay rebuilt the base it worked better than before.”

“I took the robot home and the base was more stable, and with the base refurnished we didn’t have the recurring problem of the chains interfering with the wheels,” senior Lindsay Sanborn said.

On Saturday the team began the final day of competition.

“One of our expectations for Saturday were to have our robot work well,” said senior Connie Wu. “We weren’t expecting to rank high considering there were other numerous teams who had time to perfect their mechanisms and driving skills.”

“We knew that we would be heading into a difficult competition with 104 teams,” said junior Alexis Fraga.

While the VEX season for Robotics is over, the team is now looking forward to FIRST, the spring Robotics season.

“The spring time is the most intense and competitive season yet with the FIRST Robotics Competition,” said Chelsea Harder, Robotics adviser. “Students work hard for 6 weeks in January and February to design, construct, wire, and program a 120-pound robot to compete with teams from around the world. Our team attends two regional competitions in March – one on the mainland and the other in Hawaii – to show that girls in large groups should not be underestimated.”

“The team is really looking forward to the FIRST challenge to be announced,” said sophomore Angela Wong. “There’s a unique challenge every year.”

Lancer Robotics is familiar with FIRST as last year the school’s team went as far as the world competition in St. Louis, Missouri.

“Our goal is to finish our robot, go to Worlds and bring home a blue banner,” Sanborn said.