2013 Grand Blanc District Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on March 24, 2013

The AdamBots competed in our second event of the season this weekend at the 2013 Grand Blanc District Event at Grand Blanc High School. It was a great experience and a success, as we went away as both finalists and as Entrepreneurship Award winners!

After coming from a win at the Palmetto Regional, we were excited to try our chances in a Michigan District event, especially one that got as competitive as the Grand Blanc District. We saw many awesome robot designs there, from climbers to shooters to robots that could both hang and shoot, and it was a thrilling competition. By the end of qualification rounds, after 12 intense matches, we were ranked 6th overall. We were eventually picked as the 2nd robot in the 2nd alliance, led by team 2619, the Charge, who also picked team 3302, the Turbo Trojans, to finish the alliance.

The elimination rounds were excellent, with high scoring from all around and some great shooting and ascending. We won both the quarter- and semi-finals and were extremely excited to have made it to the final, where we faced teams 33, 1718, and 247 in two very exhilarating matches. Unfortunately we lost both games, but they were close and both alliances played some great Ultimate Ascent. We were extremely happy to be named runners-up at the award ceremony, and are excited to see some more excellent Michigan teams compete next week when we go to the always competitive Troy district event.

As well as being finalists, we were also the winners of the Entrepreneurship Award, which was awarded for our team organization and business plan, which was presented to judges by our pit talker Joe Bolewitz. Mentor Rick Drummer and Safety Captain/ Climbing Team Leader Andrew McBride were also nominated for the Woodie Flowers Award and the Dean’s List Award, respectively. We also gave out some awards of our own, “duck awards” which we gave to teams who showed awesome spirit, had great swag, buttons, mascots, and t-shirts, and danced the most awesome dance moves, among other categories. We also had fun trying out our new inflatable duck beachball. 

The Grand Blanc District Event was, overall, a great competition- our robot and drive team did an excellent job, we won two awards and we had a great time as around 50 of our students attended either one or both of the days.

See you at the Troy District competition next week, and stay tuned for more AdamBots updates!

View pictures from the district event here.

2013 Palmetto Regional Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on March 11, 2013

At 4 pm on Tuesday February 27, 2013, the AdamBots left for their first competition of the 2013 FIRST season, the Palmetto Regional, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

On Wednesday night we arrived at the hotel and had dinner on the boardwalk near the hotel. The next day we went to the convention center to watch the practice matches.  At lunch time, the majority of the students on the trip went out for lunch. They were given 4 hours and most of them went to the beach to play in the water, write the team number in the sand, and collect seashells.

On Friday, the qualification matches began. We lost the first match but we came back and won the next two.  In all, we won six and lost two matches. We had to replay one of their matches because of a technical issue.  We were selected by team 11, Team M.O.R.T., in the 3rd alliance slot.  Together, we selected team 2187, Team Volt.  As an alliance, we won our quarter-final matches, semi-final matches, and finally, the finals matches.  We also held the highest scores of the competition as well as the highest score in the world (for a time), 166 points. This was a very successful competition for the AdamBots, Team M.O.R.T., and Team Volt.  It was also a learning experience for all in attendance and a great way to see Ultimate Ascent in action for the first time.

See us in our next regional in Grand Blanc!

Watch elimination matches from Myrtle Beach here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgIkJ2WBVf3WomLTksm1m-aTFuA7hlL91

Regional overview by Katie Bueltel