DevilBotz Robotics Team is Innovating to Reach New Heights

The DevilBotz are ready and raring to go for the 2024 season.

Burlington High School’s FIRST Robotics team has been working hard all year to organize and practice basic skills for what promises to be the most exciting season yet. At noon on January 6, the team—which includes 60 students and mentors—watched with rapt attention as this year’s challenge was unveiled.

Known as Crescendo, the 2024 game emphasizes musical themes: robots must play “notes” by launching rings into different receptacles; they can “amplify” their team’s scoring potential; and at the end, they must “harmonize” by dangling from a chain along with their other alliance members. (See this video, starting at 40:00, for more deets.)

From kickoff, the DevilBotz have about two months to prepare before bringing their robot to two qualifying competitions, in which they’ll compete with around 40 other teams from their district. This year, BHS has chosen to attend meets on March 15 in Reading and on March 22 in Revere. Between now and then, they’ll be familiarizing themselves with the 140-page handbook of rules and violations, deciding what’s realistic and what they’ll need to sacrifice in the design of the robot, and planning and testing out their designs.

At FIRST Robotics competitions, two teams of three robots (three red robots and three blue robots) ally against each other to complete tasks from the challenge and score points. Alliances have a short amount of time to conference before each match, but otherwise teams have no way of knowing who they’ll be working with. This makes planning all the more important, as teams need to think through what kinds of robots they might see, what capabilities the robots might have, and how their robot might complement or compete with others. Each team competes in 12 of these matches at each qualifying tournament!

By the end of the qualifying season, the top 90 of 225 teams will go to the district championship. The DevilBotz earned a ticket to this meet in 2023, and this year they hope to go even further.

The DevilBotz were founded in 2009 by former BHS shop teacher, Phil Vachon. Like most extracurricular activities, the group took a hit during the pandemic, but now they’re back and stronger than ever. In December the team established a Student Executive Board (SEB); the Board is made up of experienced robotics students who, according to SEB member Shreya Iyer, were forced to pave their own way as freshmen with no student leadership to guide them.

Dillan Agarwalla, another SEB member, is happy the team has a centralized leadership body. This is the most organized the team has ever been, says fellow SEB member, Arnesh Yeola, and this focus will doubtless make their work more efficient. “I’m confident in the team and the strategy,” says Yeola.

All three Board members hope to see the team qualify for both the District Championship and the World Championship in 2024.

If you’re looking for a way to help the team, there are plenty, says Arnesh. “We’re always looking for sponsors, mentors, and members.” And you don’t even have to go to BHS to join the team.

• If you’re a high school student interested in robotics, just reach out to Arshad Khan at BHS.
• The team’s basic operations are funded through the school district, but they must fundraise for travel and other expenses. If you’re an adult interested in contributing to the team, you can donate via PayPal or inquire about becoming a mentor.

Best of luck to the DevilBotz this season! The Buzz will be sure to keep you updated with the team’s progress as competition gets underway!

Special thanks to mentors Arshad Khan, Nilesh Agarwalla, Sandhiya Krishnan, Margarita Prajapati, and Rick O’Donnell and to Student Executive Board members, Shreya Iyer, Dillan Agarwalla, and Arnesh Yeola for informing this story.