Music to Their Gears: Team 1218 Embraces FIRST's ‘Crescendo’ Challenge

Robotics team 1218 gathered on campus for the FIRST Robotics 2024 season kickoff on January 6. They welcomed back many alumni, held a team strategy session, and tuned into the live broadcast in which the 2024 challenge, "Crescendo," was revealed. 

This year’s game, "Crescendo," is part of “FIRST In Show,” a theme made to spotlight the “A” part of STEAM, the arts. As the name suggests, "Crescendo" is all about sound, highlighting the people in the world who are expressing their creativity through the art of music. (Stay tuned to see how this theme plays out in our team’s robot design!)

This year, 1218 is tasked with creating a robot in two months capable of zipping around a field that includes an amplifier, speaker, and stage trap door to pick up and shoot foam music notes into a goal (this year, a speaker) and then climbing onto a chain in the final seconds of the game. Over the next several months, the team’s work will culminate in a series of intense competitions, one of which will be hosted here in the Vare Field House on March 16-17. 

“We’re excited to begin the season and take on the challenges that lie ahead,” said team members Alec Gupte and Brendan Flatow.

Good luck Team 1218!