Merle-Smith Campus Robotics Club Ready for Competition Season

The Merle-Smith Campus Robotics Team, The Dark Byte (FRC Team 5490), is in its 12th season of competition. So far, the team has competed at William Tennent High School and Bensalem High School, facing roughly 33 FIRST Robotics Competition teams from across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware at each event.

This season’s FIRST Robotics Competition theme is FIRST AGE, and the game, Rebuilt, challenges robots to collect as much “fuel” (small yellow balls) as possible and shoot it into their alliance’s designated hub in the center of the field. The course also features obstacles, including the bump and the trench, which robots have to navigate to access game pieces.

At each competition, teams participate in 12 randomly assigned qualification matches. Alliances of three robots compete against another alliance of three, beginning with a 20-second autonomous period when robots operate independently, followed by two minutes and 20 seconds of driver-controlled play using video game-style controllers.

Under the guidance of Head Coach Dr. Jeff Lawlis and Assistant Coach Lara Cesco-Cancian, the team built their robot, Hungry Hooligan, in just five weeks. Weighing 115 pounds, it features an intake arm, a flywheel fixed shooter, 14 motors, Limelight vision, and a swerve drive. During the Bensalem competition, the team also honored mentor Michael Timpone for five years of guidance and support.