StuyPulse Finishes Fourth at the Indiana Robotics Invitational

StuyPulse, Stuyvesant’s Robotics team, finished fourth out of 59 teams at the Indiana Robotics Invitational (IRI) in Indianapolis, held off-season from July 10 to 12. The team advanced far but was eliminated in the double-elimination bracket.

Hosted annually in Indianapolis, the Indiana Robotics Invitational is a premier For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition event held during the summer offseason. The invitational began in 2000 in Kokomo, Indiana, with 21 teams. Today, the competition draws many top teams from across the country. Junior and StuyPulse Vice President of Mechanical Engineering Ruicheng Qin highlighted that the team valued the opportunity to compete against nationally-recognized programs. “It’s pretty amazing that we are able to match up against world-class teams such as Orbit 1690, OP Robotics 2056, and Robonauts 118,” Qin said.  

In the weeks leading up to IRI, the team emphasized preparation for competition day. “We would review and plan strategies that would work best for us and our alliances. We would also go over what we did in previous competitions to prevent mistakes and troubleshooting. We would review code, fix bugs, pack our pit and spare robot parts to make sure we are thoroughly ready for anything to come,” junior and StuyPulse Vice President of Business Si Xuan Lin said. 

Alliances, which consist of three robots competing together in each match, are randomly assigned during qualification rounds and then chosen strategically during playoffs. In the playoffs, the highest-seeded teams select their alliance partners, forming eight alliances that battle for the championship.

Reliability proved pivotal once matches began. Even so, mechanical issues surfaced early, with the climber chain repeatedly breaking during the first four qualification matches. “We ended up snapping four chains during the first day,” Qin said. “Our pit crew got so used to them snapping that they got pretty fast at replacing them. However, even with the chain snapping, we still were able to make sure we were able to climb.” At first, the pit crew assumed it was a mechanical issue and experimented with adjusting the chain’s tension. “We eventually realized it wasn’t mechanical at all—it was actually a line of code that had accidentally been deleted,” Qin said. “That code was supposed to slow down the climber once it rotated past a certain point. Once we re-added it, the chain stopped snapping.”

Despite finishing fourth, the team faced multiple challenges along the way. One such obstacle was match logistics. “Our team had some issues due to being moved too fast onto the field and not having enough time to set up. That is a really important part for us to be able to do well [in] the competition, as a good setup will give us good results further down. We were also having some complications with the volunteers at the event, further affecting our issues,” Lin said.

Qin, who helped lead the pit crew during competitions, stressed that offseason events like IRI doubled as pit-crew training. “Offseason competitions like IRI are a crucial time for us to learn to work together in the pits in preparations for the upcoming season,” he said. “Veterans who are new to being in the pits, including myself, use competitions like IRI as a time to learn.” He added that improved coordination with the software department helped diagnose the climber-chain failures, serving as one of the team’s most important takeaways.

After such a demanding regular competition season, the impressive outcome at IRI gave members confidence in their team’s strength and perseverance. “Watching the robot perform in Indiana reminded me [of] how resilient we are and how all the hard work we put in throughout the year continues to pay off,” senior and StuyPulse Director of Design Rachel Kim said.

Looking ahead, the team learned two takeaways that would help them improve their performance in future competitions. “Some important lessons taught by this competition is the importance of practice and preparation before the competition, emphasized by our driver,” Lin said. “It also shows how important having extra people in the stands for scouting really is, since we had a lot fewer people for this competition compared to the others. This affected how well our strategy was, along with alliance selections.”

Junior Philip Levinsky, who was the driver of the robot, also highlighted the need for extra preparation before the invitational. “We were a bit less prepared for this competition, and I believe that was shown in our matches. It was evident if you watched our matches that since there was no way to practice before the tournament, the driving was rusty and took some time to get back into it,” Levinsky said. 

Despite the competitive atmosphere, the event fostered a friendly environment that allowed competitors to connect with teammates and other teams. “The FIRST community, in my opinion, is one of the most welcoming that I’ve been in. When we go to competitions, we aren’t only there to compete, but to connect as well. Meeting other teams, talking to others—even just spending time in the hotels with your team is something that FIRST does to allow all of us to unite under a common interest,” Lin said. 

After IRI and a season in which StuyPulse won three regionals for the first time in its history, ranked 12th worldwide out of 3,693 teams, and finished with a 47-8 record, the team is looking forward to the upcoming season. “The team has done great work to make sure we not only do well but are able to enjoy this season. I’m pretty sure that many, including myself, are excited for the next offseason competitions, as well as the next season. None of us know what might happen, but we are all ready to power through and do our best,” Lin said.

Qin shared a similar view, adding that newer members gained valuable experience at IRI and are now ready to help lead the team next season. “During IRI, with many of our team members graduating, a lot of young members got the chance to be in the pits, where we got the robot ready for matches,” Qin said. “Seeing as to how well we did during IRI, it seems like our pit crew for next year is in good hands.”

Kim also highlighted StuyPulse’s intentions to expand their influence even further in the coming year, both within Stuy and in the broader STEM world. “We also aim to successfully launch our sister team, StuyPlus, and continue making an impact on the broader robotics community through our Open Alliance Build Thread on Chief Delphi, where we share our journey and resources with others,” Kim said.

“We have been building a few offseason projects to understand how some mechanisms work so we can be better prepared for next season,” Qin said. “Starting from October, we will be admitting new members to the team, where we [will] spend the time from then to the start of Kickoff ([the] first Saturday of January) teaching them about the things they need to know for their respective departments.”

Reflecting on the invitational overall, Qin said, “Even though we didn’t go as far as I personally hoped for in this competition, being able to seed so high in one of the most competitive offseason events showed how much work people on the team put in for this robot.”

Looking to the school year, Levinsky struck an optimistic tone for what the upcoming school year holds for the Robotics team. “We were very close to winning the entire tournament, which has made our drive forward even stronger. I know that we will begin preparing for our next competition immediately when school starts, because this is the best robot our team has ever built. We want to show that to the world,” he said.