Team Finishes in Fifth Place Alliance in State Robotics Competition

April 6-7, the RoboBlazers participated in the Indiana District Championships of the FIRST Robotics Competition. This final tournament of the RoboBlazers’ season was full of excitement, suspense, and unexpected challenges.  

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Challenge #1

Before the two-day state tournament, the team added a vision system that enabled faster cycling times and more points to be scored. Of course, there were software issues and a learning curve to navigate. The RoboBlazers upgraded the software the morning of the first matches — a risky endeavor that paid off with significant improvement!

Challenge #2

On Saturday, the team and robot performed exceptionally well. Then, during the fourth match of the day, their robot collided with another robot, resulting in one of the aluminum supports being bent and cracked. Without time to replace the arm until after all the matches had been played that day, the team quickly adapted to using the robot with limited functionality. So much so that they won two games, tied one, and then lost the other two. 

As soon as the matches were over, the pit crew sprang into action with speed, efficiency, and teamwork that would rival any Indy car team. 

Challenge #3

On Sunday, the robot was fully functional, and the team had three qualification matches. At the end of the day, they were ranked 14th out of 38 teams. However, their alliance captain position was eighth seed. Then, during the playoffs, the alliance lost the first match, won the second, and tied the third, most likely due to one of our alliance robots being disabled during the match. 

Finishing the Season Strong & Proud

While the RoboBlazers did not win or qualify for the World Championship, they ended the season with a great sense of pride for their performance — as they should. In this highly competitive environment, they were part of the winning alliance at State for the past two years. This year, their alliance finished fifth. But, the team had many “firsts” along the way, including:

• Fully designing the robot with CAD before the build started 
• Manufacturing more custom parts than ever before
• Adding a vision system
• Implementing a swerve drive drivetrain
• Building the most mechanically robust robot so far

On the way home from the tournament, the team was already making a list of what they could do to make next year even better. 

MCC couldn’t be prouder of their passion, commitment, and teamwork. The future of STEM looks brighter with these young minds on the case!