Natick's LightSpeed Robotics Team Advances To World's Competition

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NATICK, MA- The LightSpeed Robotics team started the season with one goal: Make it to the FIRST Tech Challenge state championship. The three-member team conquered that goal on Saturday and have set their sights on the World Championship.

Saturday’s State Championship was held at Natick High School and featured 35 robotics teams from all over the state. LightSpeed was one of four overall winners in the championship, since they were part of the winning alliance. The other teams who are moving onto the world championship alongside LightSpeed are The Brainstormers who served as the alliance captain and Pioneer Robotics who were alliance partners. Another team, Evolution Robotics, will advance to World’s after winning the Inspire award, which recognizes teamwork and community outreach along with robot design and performance.

The win is a big deal for the team, who just started competing this year. With only three members, the teens have been putting in long hours and making sacrifices in the name of robotics. The team’s youngest member, freshman Noah Abji, had to make the difficult decision of choosing between an extra curricular in the high school or the robotics championship. Abji decided to continue his dedication to the robotics team.

While the finish line is in sight, the work for LightSpeed is far from over. Between now and the April 24 competition the team will work to perfect their robot. “We really want to make our robot faster and just better,” Adam Abji said, LightSpeed’s team captain. Competition will be fierce with 160 teams from all over the world meeting in Detroit for the four-day competition.

The robot is just the start of the work as team mom and manager Gopa Mukherjee starts searching for corporate sponsors to help pay for the $2,000 competition entrance fee. “The entrance fee is one thing but there’s also flights and hotel,” Mukherjee said. Regardless, she said she is determined to get the teens to the championship.

Although the robotics season is coming to a close the team is looking forward to next season and recruiting new members. “We’re really looking to get some new kids who haven’t been introduced to robotics yet and get those skill sets down,” Mukherjee said. In the meantime, the teens on the team are switching gears, with most of them switching over to sports for the spring.

If you are interested in corporate sponsorship or want more information about the team contact ftclightspeed@gmail.com.