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Two Harvey Robotics teams, 6277B, One Pancake (Logan Alexander ‘25 and Dan Wood ‘25), and 6277F, Byte Force (Sullivan Wieting ‘27, Luca Nishimura ’26, Henry He ‘26, and Jacob Harkins ‘26), traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, from January 31 to February 2 for LAUNCH, a signature event held on the campus of Case Western University. This is widely considered one of the premier events in the United States and has attracted 82 of the most highly ranked teams in the country.  

One Pancake finished qualifying in the top 20 and advanced to the elimination round. However, Overclock, their perennial rivals from Flushing, NY, knocked them out in the first round by a score of 34-32.  

“That was a tough match and it literally was decided by one ring,” said robotics coach Chris Kelly. “Dan and Logan were behind from the start as Overclock narrowly took the coded portion of the match. The guys quickly made up ground with their skilled driving, but ultimately needed a half second more to score the ring they were holding,” Mr. Kelly said.

One Pancake did make it to the trophy podium to collect the BUILD AWARD, presented by the judges to the team recognized as having the best-engineered and highest-quality robot at the event. 

“The Build Award is a true feather in the cap for this team. There is no luck involved,” said robotics coach John Wahlers. “Their meticulous attention to detail and physics optimization is evident in their design process and execution of their CAD. They truly deserve the award,” said Mr. Wahlers.  

Byte Force was contesting their first Signature Event. They quickly found the competition to be much more formidable than a regional event. The team competed very well and finished 3-2 after the first day. On Day 2, the team battled to a 1-4 record to finish the event 4-5, which left them in 35th place overall.  

“I am really proud of Luca, Sully, Jacob, and Henry. They never let down,” said Mr. Kelly. “Their robot performed extremely well and was the only machine in the event with a transmission. To finish in the top half of the teams at their first Signature Event is something to be proud of!” Mr. Kelly said.