Team 1218 Makes Strong Showing at FIRST World Championship After Last-Minute Qualification Push

By Alec Gupte
SCH Robotics Media Team

Team 1218 traveled to Houston, TX, in mid-April for the FIRST World Championship. After a close qualification call at the district championship two weeks prior, the team earned a spot at Worlds and was in high spirits heading into the competition.

After a stop at the Houston Space Center, the team readied itself for competition. Despite a tough first day with broken cameras and difficult matchups, day 2 began with a three-game winning streak. A loss followed, followed by three winning qualification matches, leaving the robot, Swift, with a 7-3 record. The team ranked 15th out of 75 teams in its field, Hopper.

Although expectations were high on the third day of competition, the team was not selected for an alliance, and a shot at the World Championship was over. However, the student-run spirit cart, affectionately named the “1218 Eras Tour Bus,” a riff on the season theme “1218 Eras Tour,”  brought the robotics community together, making stops around the entire arena so students from around the globe could make friendship bracelets and get their faces painted. Team 1218 spent their remaining time cheering on other teams and bonding over games.

And with that, the 1218 Eras Tour has come to an end. 

“We’re happy with our robot and how we did this year. We’re looking forward to improving even more for next year!” says Leo Cohen.

Watch out for a video recap from Worlds soon; in the meantime, enjoy this teaser!