From March 5-8, 2025, the Dewey FRC Robotics Team, The Megalodons (333), went to compete at the Hudson Valley Regional at the Rockland Community College.
The Robotics Team, under the supervision of mentor Mr. Dispenza, went to defend the Dewey title for Robotics among the many teams registered for the event.
In addition, this was the Megalodons first appearance at this particular venue location, so this was a breeze for all to experience the wonders of Viola, NY, and persevere against the technical/mechanical issues and programming troubleshooting issues encountered by the team during the competition.
Hudson Valley was packed with opportunities throughout the three competing days. Teams roamed around the Pits (area where robots and teams are stationed within the venue) trading Pins, Badges, Team Merch, or other Team Collectibles while workshops covered topics like Mechanical Design, Program Troubleshooting, and Team Sustainability.
The defining element for this and all FIRST events is competition, with robots and team members constantly shuffling in and out of matches. The atmosphere of the venue was tidal with students left and right, typing away at their laptops, fine-tuning toolkits for technical maintenance, and making changes to their robots on the fly.
“I loved being there, I got to see and meet new people all across the venue. It was a really big space, and being able to see so many teams and their unique robots here was so cool.”, said freshman Robotics Member, Michael Diacomanolis. He was drawn to this regional in Hudson Valley as it was his first time being at a regional under one of the official FIRST competition events.
Junior Robotics member Benjamin Feldman shared a similar sentiment on his overall experience with the competition, saying, “I like [the atmosphere], and it was a nice experience to not only see robots and competitive play at the same time but also to get to be in an area with people just like us. It also was great that we got to experience this in a whole different part of New York State”.
With intense matches and non-stop productivity at Hudson, it was breathtaking to see so many people and machines working together to achieve a common goal: Playing this Game. And play they did– with each team did, fiercely displaying their competitive abilities to earn their rankings, skill, strategy, and teamwork.
This event brought its fair share of strain on attending Robotics Members, especially the drive team- the first line of defense for Dewey Robotics.
“During Hudson Valley, I could only remember being nervous for the first day because it was my first time driving for FRC; the experience compared to FTC was definitely more pressuring. As the competition went on to the next day, I overcame the nervousness, and it definitely helped that I was driving alongside somebody that was very close to me.” said senior Robotics Member and Drive-Team Operator Cody Tan.
F.R.C. is more than just a competition. It is an embodiment of STEM, innovation, and teamwork, along with other life-changing skills. It isn’t about glorifying a competitive robot, but rather how the participating teams persevered to make their robots competitive.
It also allows members to see fellow teams, motivated by similar reasons and wishing to display their ideas for the world to see. This networking can change individuals for the better, even through small actions.
The event showcased and allowed the team to practice Gracious Professionalism, a core principle of FIRST. From lending tools to fellow teams, offering programming advice, or cheering each other on, the competition reminded the Megalodons of their greater mission: to overcome challenges through technology and innovation.
Looking back at the performance of 333 in this event, there was a fair share of flaws and successes. 333 didn’t qualify for Worlds from this Regional, but this isn’t a reason for the team to give up; if anything, this will push them harder for their next regional upcoming this April 5-8.
One of the team’s mentors, Kevin Gonzalez, see this in a similar light when reflecting on this recent event, saying that “Failure is the best teacher; it is something that inevitably happens. Some factors were out of our control, and that is just life, but for the factors that we can control, we did well in them, and we should be proud of that. . . . Failure is something that we should be fine about, even I fail on occassions [while pointing to CNC(Computer Numerical Control) machinery, to which he spends a good bit of time on operating and has his fair share of inaccurate cuts, broken drills and more]”.
Cody attempts to climb on the Rung (a low, swinging metal cage), and the climber snaps, hence the moment captured here when Dewey’s robot is going to hit the ground, sending the drive-team into shock. This represented one of several setbacks the Megalodons experienced and overcame during the competition.
As 333 prepares for their upcoming NYC Regional, they will implement several improvements, including but not limited to refining their Autonomous Period, enhancing Driver Practice and Practice Matches, redesigning the Climber Mechanism, and making various minor mechanical adjustments.
While 333 is on track to improve their performance, logistics, and other competitive abilities for the NYC Regional, they’ve internalized their experience at Hudson Valley.
With another regional on the horizon, the Megalodons aren’t disheartened. In fact, they’re motivated to refine and continue committing themselves to robotics in alignment with their common goals to learn, innovate, and engage in something greater than themselves.
