First Tournament, Big Results: Centurions Robotics Earn a Spot at Alberta FTC Championships

Eight members of Fort Richmond Collegiate’s 15-member FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team travelled to Calgary, Alberta on January 31st for the Buffalo Jump Qualifier. This was the Centurions’ first official tournament and their first time competing on a full regulation FTC field. With only three schools in Manitoba currently running FTC teams, it was a new experience for much of the group.

This year’s FTC season, DECODE, asks teams to design robots that can collect and launch 5-inch game pieces, called artifacts, into goal posts while navigating gates, managing overflow scoring, and earning end-game points by reaching the base zone. Games are all played in cooperative teams of two robots each. In order to excel, collaboration is key.

The team performed well at the event, placing second in the qualifying round and remaining undefeated until the tournament finale. Their results earned them an invitation to the upcoming Alberta FTC Championships. They also received 3rd place for the Inspire Award - the most prestigious award in FIRST - which recognizes balance across several areas:
• MCI (Machine, Creativity, Innovation) awards, which focus on robot design, programming, control, and overall engineering work;
• TA (Team Attributes) awards, which look at teamwork, communication, planning, outreach, and how teams sustain their program;
• and the Think Award, which recognizes clear engineering documentation and portfolio work.

Robotics Team Lead Manan Jindal noted that he was proud of how independently the team members were able to operate during the event, with each member taking responsibility for their part of the robot.

Looking ahead, his goals include preparing new members for next season, seeking additional fundraising support from the Winnipeg community, and doing more outreach with Manitoba schools to help build interest in FTC locally.

Pictured are Robotics Team members 
(back row L-R) Nathan Lee, Ved Lad, Ezra Huska, Samuel Khan, Manmohit Mahi, Jenson Liu
(front row L-R) Manan Jindal, Nichola Chen

Not pictured are other team members who also played integral roles in iterating and designing the robot or running fundraisers: Saswat Bhandari, Tanveer Saggu, Inioluwa Olorunfemi, Brennan Fehr, Sayed Ar Rahman, Ben Xue and Allen Lan.