This past Sunday, MTA’s robotics team, Lionotics, competed in the NYC Robotics Championship. The competition featured the top 32 teams out of 132 from across New York City. After strong performances in earlier rounds, Lionotics earned a place in the championship and was the only Jewish team to qualify.
This year’s challenge required teams to design robots capable of collecting and shooting as many five-inch wiffle balls as possible during a two-and-a-half-minute match. Each round paired two teams together against another alliance, with partners changing every match.
Lionotics played six matches throughout the day and delivered several impressive performances. In one standout round, Lionotics and their partner team recorded the ninth-highest score in New York City this season, successfully shooting more than 60 balls during the match.
The team finished the competition with a strong 4–2 record, winning four matches. In two rounds, however, the robot unfortunately jammed, preventing the team from securing additional victories. The final record placed Lionotics 11th out of 132 teams citywide.
While the finish was just short of advancing to the next round, the team is proud of its performance and already looking ahead to next year’s competition.