Robotics Teams Hit Houston for World Championship

Pink Droyd with their robot. *Photo: Ms. Ali*

By YAN CHEN and ANGELA ZOU

With their tools turning and dreams in motion, Pink Droyd and The Rolling Drones earned their place this year in the prestigious World Robotics Championship from May 15 to 19 in Houston, Texas, proving that innovation, teamwork, and a little bit of code can take you anywhere, even across the country.

During the competition, the teams formed alliances with others from around the world, working together to score points by using their robots to launch blocks into high baskets.

Although neither team secured the championship title, both earned the distinguished honor of finishing first in New York, with the Rolling Drones placing 35th in Houston.

It’s the furthest a Midwood team has made it so far. While the school has qualified for the World Championship in previous years, various challenges prevented them from attending. This year marks a milestone, as Midwood successfully competed on the biggest stage for the first time.

“Being at the competition really did feel like a fever dream,” said Ivan Markov '25, captain of the Rolling Drones. “We were proud of the results.”

"We didn’t win any awards this time,” said Shadman Shadath ‘25, the co-captain of Pink Droyd, “but we won the memories. It's a good way to end our season.”

“The fact that they convinced me, someone who is fearful of getting on an airplane, to take them to the World Championship in Texas, it surprised me,” said Ms. Lisa Ali, the teams’ coach. “My own family couldn’t get me on that airplane.”

The road to the championship was not completely smooth. On arrival in Texas, the team discovered that several critical robot components had been damaged during shipment. Then came the bright lights of the stage.

“Everyone just gets stressed at the moment of the competition,” said Shadath. “We don’t want to disappoint our coach and disappoint ourselves.”

With the limited time before the competition began, both teams had to act quickly, staying up to replace parts and recode robots. The teams’ resilience was tested, but they persevered.

“Pink Droyd had wiring issues,” said Sabrina Zheng. “Because of this [the team] could not play to its best potential, and since we implemented a new design right before the competition, the game was a bit iffy.”

Still, “everyone played their part and took charge when it was needed,” said Shadath.

The trip was not entirely intense and serious. Apart from the competition, team members enjoyed meaningful times together as friends.

“To me, Robotics does not feel like just a team, but rather a family,” said Evan Liu, a member of Pink Droyd.

There were funny moments, too. “When we were walking to dinner one night in Texas for the championship,” Ms. Lisa Ali said, “Mr. [Andy] Xu turned around and said, ‘Hurry up, walk faster,’ and ended up walking right into a tree.”

“There was a tradition where in every elevator ride, we jumped at the top to feel weightless,” said Markov. “One time we did, we got stuck in an elevator for about 30 seconds.”

The team would like to extend a special thanks to Ms. Ali, Mr. Xu, Mr. William Hudacek, Ms. Jenessa Kornaker, Dr. Robert Quinlan, and every faculty member who helped make the trip possible and supported the robotics teams throughout their season.

With wrenches in hand and teamwork at their core, the squads proved that perseverance, passion, and a little ingenuity can take you all the way to the world stage — and beyond.