Supernova Spectacular
by Ansh Sharma and Leo Chang
Supernova Spectacular is The Science Academy’s signature robotics event. It is a spectacle with lots of exhilarating matches between great teams from around the country all participating in the VEX V5 competition. Each year, a new game is featured, the latest game being Pushback (for more information, check out this Robotics article). This year’s event took place on two days: one for the middle schoolers on November 8th, and one for the high schoolers on November 9th.
Middle School Highlights
The day for the middle school Supernova Spectacular competition started off pretty early with the volunteers coming in at 7:00 AM to set up the fields in the auditorium and prepare the tables for the competition. The matches started slowly with teams getting used to each other and learning each other’s autonomous points and actions. As teams faced off in the qualification rounds, teams were ranked up or down depending on their wins and losses.
After 38 qualification rounds, each round lasting 2 minutes between four teams, the middle school tournament reached the elimination rounds. In the elimination rounds, there is something called the elimination bracket, a series of rounds that creates a matchup for teams that starts from the round of 16 matches, proceeding to quarter- and semi-finals, and then finals. Around this time, Mr. Parks switched out with the commentators and proceeded to commentate enthusiastically as everyone battled for their wins. Spectators were expecting close calls for the rounds of 16, but lots of errors started occurring. One robot wasn’t able to drive as half of the drivetrain wasn’t working, and their alliance had to score for them. In another instance, two robots weren’t even able to start driving and the other team was barely able to score. After some very frustrating and not so fun matches, the competition proceeded to the quarter finals where everything got much more exciting. Ultimately, the top two alliances faced off against each other in the finals.
After a long and tiring day of robotics, only one middle school alliance came out on top, and it was 3515X GOGO BOBA and 2681A Radiant. These teams outlasted all the others and put on a crazy final match that was full of last-minute scores and de-scores that kept changing the tide of the match by 10 to 30 points at a time. Sometimes robots would hold their de-scorer wings in the goal so that teams couldn’t score, while other times they would go on defense and push the other robots around. No matter how hard the various teams tried, only one alliance, 3515X GOGO BOBA and 2681A Radiant, won the event.
Overall, Middle School Supernova Spectacular was an amazing experience where teams faced off and even though this competition started off a little slow, it quickly ramped up and became a fun and memorable experience.
High School Highlights
The high school event was even more intense than the middle school matches. Volunteers from our school worked on setting the fields and managing the event. Many of the volunteers were middle schoolers, who worked very hard over the weekend and learned a lot about competition at the high school level. This year, there were 33 teams competing in the event, with many high level and powerful teams. Some of the teams were from Science Academy, including 334Z, 334X, and 334S. One of the best teams was 6627b.
The competition started with the autonomous period, also known as autons, is where the robot moves on its own, following a programmed code. This period lasts for 15 seconds. Many of the matches were decided by the autonomous period, due to the fact that many of the autons were very good. They could store lots of blocks and score many points, which made them formidable opponents at many aspects of the game. The autons were followed by the driver-controlled rounds. Some teams had heavy de-scores, with arms that could push the balls out of their opponents’ tubes. Others relied more heavily on scoring, and they could score faster than other teams could block them. This was followed by the elimination rounds. These matches could range anywhere from 3 minutes to 20 minutes. Some elimination matches were all about the rules, and they were more of a battle in the rule book. Contestants argued over minute details, such as wrong starting position or a slight bump. In the final match, there was a close match where both teams were battling not just in the field, but in the rulebook. In the game manual, it stated that a certain portion of the goals were completely off limits, so you weren’t allowed to put your robot in that portion. The dispute was about one team’s robot that tried to descore blocks after another robot pushed them into the restricted portion, therefore violating the rules. However, the team who entered the restricted zone argued that it was a forced violation, which is clearly stated as illegal in the rules. This led to an hour-long dispute that was ultimately resolved, as everybody in the audience was out of their seats hoping the team they cheered on would win in the end.
After the finals, a very heartwarming celebration occurred where the Supernova Robotics club celebrated Mr. Lauchu’s last year at the school with chocolate cake and a festive mood from everyone. Overall, the high school robotics competition was very competitive and fun, with many teams showing strong sportsmanship and spirit.
Check out the recorded livestream from the high school competition: Supernova Spectacular Push Back High School
Overall, the Supernova Spectacular was a great experience! The event helped volunteers learn the game and the layout, as well as get to know the competitors and the judges. Those participating in the Supernova Spectacular showed good sportsmanship, celebrating Mr Lauchu’s last year at The Science Academy. The volunteers worked day and night setting up the event, while the competitors prepped for weeks to put on a good show. Thank you to everyone who helped make the event such a success!