Raw Bacon, the City High robotics team, has qualified for the state tournament for 12 years. The robotics state meet was held at the Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Feb 27-28, 2026. Robotics is a student club where students design, build, and program a robot to play a predefined game.

“My favorite part of doing robotics is feeling like I am a part of a team and it has definitely increased my confidence,” said Clara Martin, a junior on the robotics team.

This year Raw Bacon built a robot to pick up and score artifacts by shooting them on a 12×12 ft field. The game starts with a 30 second autonomous period followed by a 2 min drive controlled time. In the drive controlled time,  the team tries to score the most points by launching artifacts into their goal, creating patterns on the ramp, and ending in certain positions.

“I think robotics is an amazing program because it has a lot of career ready skills that the kids learn,” said Mr. Crawford, a team mentor. He has been a mentor with the team for 9 years. 

The Raw Bacon team finished in 14th place in the black division. Winning 4 matches out of their 6 matches. They based their robot off the starter kit with a human player intake system. The team added omni wheels. These specialised wheels have small free rotating rollers, allowing the robot to drive side to side without turning the robot. The Raw Bacon team programmed a snail camera into their design for dynamic launching. The robot can launch artifacts from practically anywhere on the field with the click of a button. The camera also allows for color sensing which the robot uses to shoot the balls in the random motif pattern selected for that match. 

“I enjoy going to robotics events and meeting nerds like me. I love getting to learn and compete with them,” said a Raw Bacon team member. 

This was the last meet of the season for the team. During the off season members will work to prepare for the next season, hosting outreach events, raising money, and running workshops for their members.