TeraBridges places first at robotics scrimmage

This victory marks the first-ever win for TeraBridges. Team members include Abdulla Al-Dosari, Jai Daniel, Ishaan Sharma, Harsh Mali, Sidharth Nambiar, William Whitman, Josh Beitler, Matt Beitler, Rohan Inampudi, Ava Liu, Sam An, Felix Chen, Aaron Jiang and Ashwin Vasudevan. The team is coached by Rich and Sarah Beitler.

The Green and Red Scrimmage, a showcase event for teams in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program, brought together high school teams from across Western Pennsylvania to participate in robotics challenges. Students utilized math, science and engineering principles to design, build and program robots capable of completing specific tasks outlined in the yearly challenge. The competition featured an alliance format, testing the robots' performance on a designated field.

Upper St. Clair High School sent all five of its FTC teams to participate in the event: Botsburgh (11792), TeraBridges (18603), USC Dynamics (20223), ROGO Lotus (21357), and ROGO Rose (26446). The teams are part of the USC Robotic Club led by Tracy Smith, USCHS robotics teacher.

The scrimmage provided an opportunity for students to refine their robot designs and programming while interacting with peers from the region in preparation for upcoming qualifying events.

“TeraBridges stood out during the scrimmage, especially due to its strong autonomous programming and quick, precise maneuvering during the tele-operated phase of the competition,” Mrs. Smith said. “Their stellar performance earned them the top spot, a significant achievement for the team and a great boost in their preparation for the season’s upcoming competitions.”

All five Upper St. Clair FTC teams are continuing to perfect their robots and programming for the 2024-2025 season.

“We’re incredibly proud of TeraBridges and all of our teams at Upper St. Clair High School,” Mrs. Smith said. “This event has been a great opportunity for our students to showcase their skills and work as a team, and we’re excited for what lies ahead as we prepare for the upcoming qualifying events.”

Upper St. Clair will host two FTC qualifying events on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23, 2025, bringing together robotics teams from across Pennsylvania. Spectators will have the chance to witness the talent and ingenuity of the schools’ robotics students.

For more information on the Upper St. Clair High School FTC teams or to learn more about the upcoming events, visit www.uscrobotics.org.