Alpha Hawks Robotics Team 7813 members from left, Brody Trujillo, Addie Weisse-Bernstein, Nicholas Testa, Andrew Gilbertson, Julian Delorey, Eric Xu and Brandon Keller pose with their robot during the First Technical Challenge (FTC) New Mexico Qualifying event at Alamagordo High School on Jan. 17. Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
The Alpha Hawks Robotics Team 7813, consisting of Los Alamos Middle School students, was on the winning alliance at the First Technical Challenge (FTC) New Mexico Qualifying event at Alamagordo High School on Jan. 17. To prepare for the event, the team built a robot to compete in a game that was announced at the end of last summer. This was the second event of the season.
Each game is played with four teams in two alliances. The games consist of a pre-programmed “autonomous” period where the robot tries to score points on its own, followed by a human-controlled period “tele-op” where team members drive the robot and operate robot components to score points.
This year’s game consists of picking up 5-inch plastic balls of different colors and shooting them into a goal. The alliances score points based on how many balls they score, whether the order of scoring follows a particular color pattern, and other factors. The Alpha Hawks designed and built a robot that could shoot the balls from any distance on the game field, rather than building a specialized system that was focused on shooting from a particular spot. This was important at the tournament because it is helpful for alliance teams to complement each other’s abilities to maximize their scoring potential. The Alpha Hawks could adapt their strategy to each team in which they had an alliance to maximize scoring.
Fifteen teams from across New Mexico competed in five qualifying matches while randomly paired with another team to form different alliances for each match. After the qualifying matches, the Alpha Hawks were 3-2 and in 5th place.
In the playoffs, the first four teams select alliance partners and play in a double-elimination tournament to determine the champion. Due to their versatile robot and their 5th place finish, the Alpha Hawks were selected by the second placed team, Gear Masters from Albuquerque, to be their alliance partner. The Gear Masters-Alpha Hawks Alliance won the playoff round in an exciting finish, defeating the top team from the qualifying round. The Alpha Hawks were able to shoot from long range while Gear Masters focused on up close shots, which was their specialty.
Results can be viewed here: https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2025/team/7813
The team also won the Control Award for excellence in using sensors, such as cameras, to guide their robot in driving and shooting. The Alpha Hawks will play in the New Mexico State Finals next month.
Through the process of designing and building a robot, the team members learn how to work together for a common goal. Each team member is involved in one or more tasks including coding, building the driving chassis, wiring sensors, servos, and motors, and building the components to pick up and shoot balls. Four team members are on the drive team including coach, human-player, driver, and shooter.