Holding the robot’s outtake mechanism, Aayu Yadav ’25 performs a systems check on the robot shortly before a match. The team ran a detailed diagnostic of all systems on the robot before each match, in order to ensure there were no errors or complications.

Working together, Rithwik Nair ’28, Ethan Broadbent ’25, Aayu Yadav ’25, and Shrika Prakash ’26 hold up a part of the robot while making repairs. Yadav and Broadbent spent lots of time mentoring Prakash and Nair in preparation for future seasons, to ensure the team remains sustainable and strong longer after the current seniors graduate.

Watching the field, Archit Garg ’26, Nikhil Battapati ’25, and Anaya Zia ’25 inspect the robot’s movements alongside Orange Dynamite Mentor Josh Eversmann. Zia and Garg were selected as the drivers for the 2025 season, with Garg operating the robot’s main movements while Zia operated smaller mechanisms.

Looking at the official event website, Ethan Broadbent ’25 writes down the team numbers of the teams Orange Dynamite will compete with and against during the competition. Broadbent used the detailed schedule as a reference to scout out allies and opposing teams to better prepare for the upcoming matches.

Focused, Srirang Girish ’26, Nikhil Battapati ’25, Archit Garg ’26, and Anaya Zia ’25 of team Orange Dynamite test the controllers in preparation to drive the robot. The robot functions autonomously for the first 15 seconds of the match, followed by a two minute and 15 second driver operated period.

Smiling, Ethan Broadbent ’25 and Aayu Yadav ’25 handshake before a match. As key members of the design and build teams, the duo grew close over the course of the season.

Typing, Orange Dynamite Software lead Nikhil Battapati ’25 calibrates the robot’s cameras on the official event field. As software lead, Battapati took charge of all code for the robot, including complex programs for the drivetrain, vision, and various mechanisms.

Using a marker, Orange Dynamite Team Captain Anaya Zia ’25 writes down the team’s match schedule for the day. The team played a total of 12 qualification matches over two days with randomized three versus three teams, before rankings were finalized and the top eight teams chose their alliance partners for the elimination rounds.