Events
Every year, WPI hosts a number of robotics events on its campus, and both the high school members and college mentors of the team are actively involved. Specifically, these events are the WPI District, BattleCry@WPI, Savage Soccer, and Robonautica. Each event provides team members with the opportunity to have fun battling it out on field or volunteer to help run the show.
The WPI District is an NEFIRST District Competition that hosts 40 teams on campus during the term break in March. Prior to the District, WPI played host to the WPI Regional from 2010 to 2013. The Regional was one of the most diverse events of its size in FIRST, with teams hailing from Brazil, Hawaii, and the United Kingdom. Team 190 students and mentors have competed in and volunteered at the event since its inception
BattleCry
Each May, Team 190 hosts its annual offseason event, BattleCry@WPI. Founded in 2000 as a means for teams to compete after World Championships with their robots, BattleCry@WPI has grown to 60 teams and is widely recognized as one of the premiere off-season events. Team 190 traditionally has one or two mentors work with the high school students, while the rest of the team volunteers for the event.
Savage Soccer
Savage Soccer is a VEX-based robotics competition started in 1995 by WPI, and is designed and run by Team 190 college mentors each year. Modeled loosely after the First Robotics Competition program, a new game is developed each year, with teams given four weeks to brainstorm, design, and build a robot using VEX robotics parts. At the end of the build time, teams gather at WPI to compete in the Intergalactic Savage Soccer competition. This is a free event, intended to serve as a team-building and FRC build season exercise each Fall for local middle and high schools. Team 190 considers this event an open-source competition, with full documentation available to other groups who would like to use the game at an off-season Savage Soccer event. The team also provides resources to groups that wish to participate but do not have access to kits. 190’s mentors design the game and run the tournament, as well as serve as coaches for the 190 high school students in the competition.
FIRST Lego League
Closing out the calendar year, WPI and Team 190 host Robonautica, the FLL Massachusetts State Championship. Each December, over 80 qualifying FLL teams swarm Harrington Auditorium and the Sports and Recreation Center to compete for invitations to the World Festival. Team 190 and other local teams collaborate to staff the event.