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Eyes glued to the robot, Tanner Sundstrom ’28 fixes his team’s motor issue. Even under a time constraint, coordinated teamwork allowed for Atlatl to resolve their problems and perform exceptionally.
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Pointing to the field, Nathan Li ’29 and Bao Nguyen ’28 review robot driving strategies seconds away from the start of their first qualification match. Their team, Hunga Munga, utilized effective teamwork and communication to push their robot’s potential, landing them second place overall in their competition division.
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Focused, Marc Morillo ’29, Sy Ripperda ’29, Bao Nguyen ’28, and Saanvi Bhosekar ’28 prepare their driver hub and inspect their robot for issues while waiting to set up for a match. This set-up time before matches allowed for teams to discuss strategy with their alliance partner, the other FTC team working with them to earn points.
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Leaning over the robot, Aubrey Tipps ’26 carefully examines the wiring while testing last-minute programming changes. Tipps had spent many hours programming in the MakerSpace to ensure a smooth first competition.
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Putting their heads together, Andrew Park ’28, Marc Morillo ’29, Bao Nguyen ’28, and Michael Ferrua ’29 scan their robot before moving it to the competition fields. Westwood teams enjoyed the convenience of having access to the MakerSpace in the early morning before the start of competition.
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Gripping a motor, Dalia Ahmed ’28 rushes to fix a last-minute issue. After discovering that one of Atlatl’s motors was of a different type than the others, the team swiftly worked together to switch it out.
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Computer in hand, Rupal Jain ’27 and Aubrey Tipps ’26 compare thoughts on the code they updated. Constant teamwork throughout the programming subteam was critical to master both the human-operated (Teleop) portion of the competition as well as the robot’s independent (Autonomous) portion of the competition.
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Arms around each other, Rupal Jain ’27 and Aubrey Tipps ’26 calm each other before going into their next match. A common habit for both members, this ritual exemplified the closeness of their team dynamic and the connections that grew from FTC.
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Working together, Viktor Nguyen ’26 and Arhaan Jafri ’27 inspect the robot. As two members of Slingshot’s Hardware subteam, both played a large role in building the machine and dealing with small issues.
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Kneeling, Shrikar Sudarshan ’29 sets up his robot against the red goal, one of this year’s game pieces. Many teams chose this as a starting spot for their autonomous program, the portion of the match where the robot had to score without human input.
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Gathering the drivers of every competing FTC team, Head Referee Cruz Monrreal II explains rules, regulations, and penalties before qualification matches commence. With years of experience with FIRST, Mr. Monrreal made clear the importance of fouls and how they could throw a match.
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Thinking, Jining Liu ’26 takes a look at the livestream setup for the competition. As the lead developer who set up both the live-streaming system for many FTC competitions and the widely used FTC Scoring App, Liu worked hard to make robotics more accessible to all types of community members.
Cheers and screams resound throughout the Westwood High School gym, imitating a sports team’s spirited audience, on Saturday, Nov. 1, as the area shifted from a competitive stadium to a robotics arena, replacing sports jerseys with For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology (FIRST) Tech Challenge (FTC) team shirts. Kicking off the season, Westwood Robotics teams Slingshot, Hunga Munga, Tomahawk, and Atlatl showed off their practiced skills at the FIRST in Texas GEMS League Meet 1 (FiT LM1). Demonstrating the most successful LM1 results in Westwood history, all four Westwood teams ranked in the top 10 competitively, and rookie team Hunga Munga finished in second place, a particularly impressive feat.
“Both of our rookie teams, Hunga Munga and Atlatl, were able to score in this competition, which hasn’t happened in a while,” FTC Director Aubrey Tipps ‘26 said. “Hunga Munga actually ranked higher than both of our varsity teams, [and] I was really proud to see that. [Even though] it was a little rocky at the start, they were all working together really well.”
Hunga Munga’s success was brought by the dependability of their scoring, an incredibly difficult aspect of robotics to master during the first competition of the season. Utilizing this skill, they won all five of their matches for the day, closely followed by Slingshot, who won four out of five matches. Just behind them, Tomahawk and Atlatl both won three out of five matches. Many teams took this success as encouragement to continue their efforts, a needed boost with the impending deadline of the next competition.
“Right now, [our success] is just because we’re consistent,” Hunga Munga Co-Captain Saanvi Bhosekar ‘28 said. “I feel like the other teams will catch up eventually, as we are a rookie team, and they’re all going to fix their issues and come back stronger. It did feel nice this time, but I don’t know if we can expect the same result next [competition].”
Thanks to the growing legacy of Westwood Robotics, stress for both rookie and varsity teams ran high. While varsity teams built off of their experience from previous seasons, however, many of the rookie members toiled to not just design and create a functioning robot, but also catch up to the varsity members’ level of expertise. Due to this learning gap, many experienced members mentored the incoming students, a sustainable cycle that keeps Westwood Robotics thriving.
“All the seniors and upperclassmen are really helpful,” Atlatl Co-Captain Dalia Ahmed ‘28 said. “I’ve learned so much in just a few months, and genuinely without them, I don’t think I would’ve understood how to do anything.”
Spending countless hours in the MakerSpace, teams went through rounds of iterations, comparing the benefits of each prototype, but as the monumental day inched closer, large changes became impossible to execute in time, shifting teams’ goals from creativity to focus.
“The hardest moments leading up to comp was trying to [manage] all our teammates,” Bhosekar said. “Everyone was really excited, and we need to [make sure to] get work [done] instead of just running around.”
Even with the Robotics members’ steadfast preparation, last-minute issues arose throughout the competition as members scrambled to adapt under pressure. Notably, one of Atlatl’s four motors that powered their wheels was of the wrong type, presenting the team with a struggle. Showing their growth as an all-rookie team, they swiftly changed the motor out before proceeding. These difficulties gave the teams a chance to learn which changes to prioritize before the next competition.
“This competition taught me to keep trying,” Atlatl member Arnav Saraf ‘29 said. “You need a vision for anything, so if you have a good vision, it’ll most likely turn out [well]. Our next goal is to [improve] our scoring.”
Despite only two short weeks before their next league championship, the FTC teams have set their sights on enhancing their results and teamwork. The Westwood Robotics teams will compete at the second FIRST in Texas GEMS League Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Ms. Carvajal • Nov 10, 2025 at 12:09 pm
This is such a great story, Yonnie! Thank you for representing our program so well! 🙂
Yonnie Yang • Nov 11, 2025 at 8:45 pm
Thank you so much Ms. Carvajal!! 💌
Jihoon Im • Nov 5, 2025 at 10:54 pm
This is so tuffington city! Awesome read as always!
Ohm Shankar • Nov 10, 2025 at 12:39 pm
Jihoon ur so tuffington city
W sling frfr