Under the Spotlight – IA’s Robotics Team 8866
October 10, 2025 2025-12-15 22:32Under the Spotlight – IA’s Robotics Team 8866
By: Daniel Manetin
After only a few years of competition, IA’s very own robotics team has become one of the most accomplished groups in the sea of IA clubs. Team 8866, led by sponsor teacher Daniel Huntley, has already competed for four years, achieving three regional wins and even a trip to the World Championships. “Last spring was our fourth year competing, and we did really well,” Mr. Huntley stated, noting that “We’ve taken a step forward every year, and the hope is that we can maintain that progress or even go a little bit further.”
The team begins each season with an 8-9 week building period, where they meet together up to five days per week to design, prototype, and assemble a robot fit for competition. These robots undergo meticulous planning through various groups, such as design-centered groups or metalworking students, and are sent to compete in a robotics competition each year. These competitions have about 35 teams face off against each other in a series of qualification matches to earn points, testing not only the teams’ engineering skills, but also their abilities to adapt under pressure and plan strategically.
Despite this, not all Team 8866 students see the competitions as how they are; for example, design lead Adarsh Venkataraman [12] mentioned how the experience goes far beyond building a machine. “It’s a great experience, just involving with the team learning outside the classroom,” he mentioned. “We don’t see [robotics competitions] as a competition, we just see it as an experience or a way to show what we’ve been working on for three months that we’ve designed and built and put our heart and soul into.” Of course, competitions retain competitiveness, but IA’s Team 8866 doesn’t just see it as an opportunity to win, but also to make their work stand out. “It’s just a way for us to show the entire state of Georgia what we are able to achieve and how well we can perform.”
toto togel
