FIRST Robotics teams across the state got the opportunity to compete for districts, which consisted of high-level competition and a chance to make states.
A total of 41 teams consisting of high school students, coaches and mentors made their way to Wink Arena in the R.L. Ewigleben Sports Complex to watch their robots face off. The district’s event occurred on Friday, March 28, and Saturday, March 29. The first two days consisted of qualification matches, with the second day included alliance selections and playoff matches.
Manufacturing engineering technology and main event coordinator Nathan Leatherman explained how the teams would manage to score their points.
The objective was to clean and rebuild the reef. The large green balls represented algae, which the teams needed to remove from the reef. After removing the algae, they could transfer it to a processor and place it on a barge. In addition, the teams could use PVC pipes, symbolizing coral, to help reconstruct the reef.
Leatherman found the competition important for the Ferris community because of the positive energy that the teams brought and the impact they could leave.
“Part of this competition is that you don’t really understand what it is until you see it,” Leatherman said. “The infectiousness that these kids have is off the charts. You come here and it’s just infectious with their energy and their enthusiasm. Being a part of Ferris is trying to give back to the community, trying to build the next generation and this event is giving these kids that opportunity to do that.”
The winning teams of the event were Alliance 1, which included Team 494 – Martians, Team 70 – More Martians, and Team 9242 – Hamady Hawks.
In the finals, they faced off against Alliance 3. Alliance 1 claimed victory in the first matchup, while Alliance 3 bounced back to win the second. The competition was based on a best-of-three format, leading to a tiebreaker. This match ended in another tie, leading to an overtime round to determine the final winner.
High school student RJ Wiles, who’s one of the team’s 494 drivers, took us through his thought process when he realized he and his team had another match incoming.
after placing 15th place in the qualifying rounds. Photo by: Jordan Wilson | Multimedia Editor
“I was genuinely shocked,” Wiles said. “I was like, ‘Oh no, here we go again.’ But I went into full strategy mode. What could we do better? What happened? What can we avoid in the next match? How we can do better? And thinking about all of those things ultimately led us to our victory.”
High school student and lead programmer and driver of team 70 Emma Andruszko, expressed what the team’s victory meant to all the members.
“This is my first blue banner as a driver, and it feels absolutely amazing,” Andruszko said. “I made my dad cry. I made my sister’s eyes water. And I’m pretty sure I made my mentors cry because this is the first time that somebody has gotten a blueberry in years. Like we felt cursed. So we felt like this was a curse breaker. We broke the curse.”
Team 494 finished the event with 11 wins and one loss, while finished with nine wins and three losses.
Those who did not make the playoffs enjoyed facing the competition. High school and main team driver Levi Dalm, part of Team 4004 – M.A.R.S. Rovers, enjoyed facing the competition.
“I’ve competed in competitions in Muskegon, and I liked the level of competition here a lot more,” Dalm said. “One of the reasons we picked this event was because we wanted to make sure we would go to the states. Competing here at Ferris, we got to face teams that were closer to our level and we wanted to find teams with an even playing ground to us.”
Team 4004 finished with six wins and six losses in the qualification matches. They are currently 152 out of 619 teams in the FIRST Michigan Districts.
FIRST Robotics is already planning for the next off-season competition in September. They will also continue to mentor elementary through high school students and volunteer at other events and competitions. FIRST Robotics also hopes to host districts for the second straight year next spring.