Southwestern PA Regional Qualifying Tournament, Pittsburgh, PA (01/24/15)
At the Southwestern PA Regional Qualifier, we once again saw how much tougher teams were becoming as they continued to refine and improve their robots, develop new autonomous programs, and enhance game strategy offensively and defensively.
Our team was 1 out of 24 teams who competed at the Southwestern Qualifier. Our team won 3 out of 5 qualifying matches, continued undefeated through Semi-Finals, and lost the 3rd Finals match by a mere 21 points against two of the best teams we had seen to date.
Even though we did not win the Winning Aliiance title, by earning Finalist Alliance we helped another rookie team who was our Alliance Partner earn a spot to the State Championships. We were glad to help them out in this way. That's the spirit of FIRST--to compete hard, but help each other out when possible.
The students are continually improving at fielding judge's questions and making their presentations.
The day started off strong, with a winning score for 411-40.
This is what tension looks like. The lift broke during Match 3 and an essential assembly was lost (Teflon piece and fasteners). As we scrambled to make repairs, we realized replacements were not in the toolbox. While Caleb and Mike tried alternate solutions, James, Brady, and Dyllan returned to the field to find the missing parts. Fortunately, a referee had retrieved them from the mat and set them on a table. With Queuers anxiously calling us, the lift was repaired with seconds to spare.
This is what relief looks like. The lift was repaired in the nick of time and the team can now compete in Match 4.
We joined Alliance Captain and fellow rookie team "Steel Serpents" for Semi-Finals Match 2.
Another high center goal score during end game contributed to the 551-170 win. 551 was the second highest score of the day.
And again, another high center goal score helps bring home the win: 336-497. Our Alliance is going into Finals!
The LEDS on the robot make it look pretty awesome, plus the team members learned how to solder wires.
After losing the first Finals match (415-230), our Alliance won the second Finals match (469-235). The third Finals match will be a nail-biter for everyone.
Competing against two very tough teams, we lost Finals Match 3 by a mere 21 points with a score of 303-324.
Bringing home the Control Award for the second time felt pretty good. Go Doges!
The team runs through the judges and referee line to collect their trophies.
The team worked hard to bring home the Finalist Alliance and Control Award Trophies.