2018 - Power Up
FIRST FACTS:
Number of Teams:
3,660 teams with roughly:
91,000 students
from 24 countries with
(2,682 teams from the United States of America)
Events Held:
63 Regional Competitions
95 District Qualifying Competitions
9 District Championships
2 World Championship
1 Festival of Champions
Robot Size:
2 sizes allowed: 36" x 40" x 24" tall or 30" x 32" x 36" tall at a times during the match
Bumpers are mandatory
120 pounds excluding battery and bumpers
Brief Game Description:
The game has a steam punk theme and teams are required to shoot whiffle balls which represent fuel into a simulated boiler which transfers the generated steam into an airship in the middle of the field. Each alliance has one airship, which they pressurize with steam from the boiler and load with plastic gears from the field. At the end of the match, robots can climb and hang on team-supplied ropes (or standard ropes supplied by FIRST) attached to the airship for additional points.
CHS District Northern Virginia
Haymarket, Virginia
March 2 - March 4
Our trip to Virgina was quite the experience. We decided to fly down and were met with quite the challenge. Our airplane was grounded for repairs and after a while we drove to Detroit to catch another flight, only to find it was delayed because of a snow storm. The students were real troopers in how they handled the delay in our plans and found ways to try to pass the time.
Finally after an entire day at the airport, we finally arrived in Virgina and our hotel rooms for a well deserved half-a-night's sleep.
The next day the team headed out to see some of Washington DC's wonderful monuments, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the White House.
The next day at our competition, we were greeted with a generator truck which was powering the building since the whole county was out of power due to the wind storm.
During the two days of competition we rode an emotional roller coaster. We did really well in the beginning and then ran into some problems. One of the problems was that many of our motors burned up, causing the robot to smoke many times out on the field and we experienced a failure to move.
The team really stepped up and worked hard, coordinating very well together as we repaired the bot. Through persistence, hope and determination the students came together and fixed the robot in time for us to be picked for finals. With our alliance (team #422 Mech Tech Dragons from Richmond, Virgina and #3274 Rocktown Robotics from Harrisonburg, Virgina) we blazed through the stages and won first place!
We placed #19 out of 40 teams overall. The team had a blast and made some new friends. We were able to see how other teams approached the engineering task differently. Our overall experience was a fantastic and awe-inspiring time. It was great to see that not giving up can have its rewards.
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Rocket City Regional
Huntsville, Alabama
March 14 - March 17
We had a wonderful time down in Huntsville, Alabama. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. We were able to enjoy the beautiful landscaping around the venue during lunch breaks. Everyone was friendly and pleasant, very welcoming.
The team did very well. We tried new strategies and improved our past ones. The team made new friends and were able to see new styles/approaches to designing the robot. One team we helped was Rookie team #7111 RAD Robotics from Madison, Alabama. (which ended up being the Rookie All Star Winners. Congrats!). The team was also able to attend several of the workshop seminars that were available, as well as talk to different vendors from many companies and colleges.
On Friday night, we were treated to a spaghetti dinner/social at the US Space Center. We got to eat under a Saturn V rocket. How many people can say that?
The Museum was open for us to wander through and interact with the exhibits; the beginning for space exploration, a walk through the ISS, wandering through the Rocket garden, and riding the different rides. Everyone had a fun time and learned a lot of new things about the astronauts and NASA program.
While the students' bonds grew stronger they worked very hard as a team. A good majority of the competition, we were sitting in the top 11 ranking spots. After all of the matches were played we were ranked 19th out of 43 teams.
Our team was asked to join the 3rd Alliance with teams #4087 Falcon Robotics from New Orleans, Louisiana and #5410 Eaglebotics from Pompano Beach, Florida. The teams fought hard but lost in the Semifinals during the tie breaker.
Our team was honored with winning the Innovation in Control Award for coding our autonomous and for our swerve drive system.
Alabama was a wonderful experience all around and we look forward to coming back in the future.
Thank you Alabama!
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First in Michigan - West Michigan Event
Allendale, MI
March 23 - March 25
Once again, the team had a great time at Grand Valley State University. We checked out the campus and competed with teams from all around West Michigan and beyond. We saw some of our friends from last year's competition. A huge bonus was having our friends and family join us to cheer on the team and share the benefits of all their hard work.
The team was on fire with 9 wins and 3 losses. The drive team had their heads in gear and came up with some great strategies.
At the end of the qualification matches, we were 5th out of 40 teams. We were moved up to the 4th alliance as captains, and recruited teams 4004's M.A.R.S. Rovers and team 2054's Tech Vikes. Although we ran into several difficulties through the finals, (e.g. burning out motors, elevator falling off and/or not working, etc.), we overcame with the help of the pit team. Amazingly, the pit team replaced the motors in under five minutes during a time out! Through the wins and losses, our alliance climbed our way through the quarter finals and finished in the semi finals.
The team won the Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and was also a runner up for the Safety Award.
To top off a spectacular day, Drew became a Michigan Deans list finalist, moving to compete for the title at a state level.
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First in Michigan - Lake Superior State University
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
April 5 - April 7
Competing in the U. P. (Upper Peninsula) was a nice change. We were able to play against and create new friendships with many of the teams from the U.P. and Canada.
The team did extremely well. Our record was amazing with 11 wins and 1 loss. We ranked 1st place out of 40 teams. Being the 1st alliance captain we selected teams #4391, BraveBots (from Gladstone, Michigan) and #4988, Yooper Troopers (from Cedarville, Michigan) to join us. We played really hard and made it to the semi finals.
Along with the great playing the team also won the Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.
One bonus for playing at Lake Superior State University was that the students were able to take a school campus tour. One of the highlights of the tour was a robot that has been programed to solve a Rubik's cube.
Many of our team parents braved the white out snow conditions to come and support us. They brought snacks, pom poms, and numbers to cheer the students on.
For dinner we headed to a local diner called Antlers. It is a unique restaurant with taxidermy as their decoration and they served very good hearty food. The best part of our visit was the warm welcome they gave us with a round of "Bells and Whistles," which featured a dozen different lights, bells, and whistles.
During the evening after all the hard work at competitions it's nice to have down time where the team could hang out together. We played checkers, card games, swam in the pool, and had a dance party in the lobby.
Our overall experience was a great one.
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Michigan FRC State Championship
Michigan State Competition
Saginaw, Michigan
April 11 - April 14
For the second year, State Championships were held at Ryder Center at Saginaw Valley State University. 104 teams (out of 508 teams) from all over Michigan came together to compete for first place and a chance to move on to Championships. For the second year in a row we were one of 40 teams assigned to Ford Field (which is one of the four fields named after sponsors).
The team played hard and had a lot of fun making friendships with new and neighboring teams from all over the state. The team ranked 8th out of 40 teams with the record of 7 wins - 5 losses. With being Alliance Captain #6 we asked teams #3604 Goon Squad (from Brownstown, Michigan) and team #6753 CBA RoboKings (from Midland, Michigan) to join us. We made it to the quarterfinals but lost with three very close nail-biting matches.
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Championships
Detroit, Michigan
April 25- April 28
Nationals.... has been and always will be incredible. It's a completely awe-inspiring experience, one that is not only fun but educational for everyone involved. With 405 teams (from around the world) playing on 6 fields (that alone will keep you busy with competing), you stay busy with exploring the pits and looking for best practices. We were able to make friendships and see the different techniques the other teams used in building robots.
One unique opportunity about worlds is the fact that all four levels of FIRST are in one location. This year the Championships moved from their former location in St. Louis to Detroit, Michigan. The Cobo Center was a very nice location to hold the event, with the bonus that everything was held under one roof. Students were able to watch and mingle with the younger teams from the other levels. This not only creates future friendships but also inspires the younger generations to continue this amazing path with STEM.
Along with competing.... team members are given the opportunity to explore the Innovation Fair (which has several of the major sponsors of FIRST), Scholarship Row (which has several colleges there for students to talk to), and there are many conferences for everyone to attend. The conferences range from the latest science opportunities, involving your team with your community, and the various tools that are used on teams. Every year we have a great time and learn a lot. We explore/ experience as much as possible while keeping our focus on the playing field and playing a great game.
The students played very well and against some very tough teams. We ended up in 5th place out of 68 teams (with 7 wins - 3 losses) on the Daly Field. As the 5th Alliance Captains we then recruited teams #2013 Cybergnomes (from Clearview Twp., Ontario, Canada), #2706 Merge Range (from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), and #1189 The Gearheads (from Grosse Pointe, Michigan). The students put their head in the game and made it into the Final round. While the students worked hard driving, strategizing plays, and dealing with repairing the robot we unfortunately lost in the final round with 1 win - 2 losses which placed us in 2nd place. The students were very proud for making it to 2nd place and wore their medals proudly.
Even with our loss the team can be very proud with all of their accomplishments; knowing they played their best, had lots of fun, and came back with more education then they began with. They also brought home some hardware in the form of a finalist trophy! What a great finish!
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