2013 FIRST World Championship Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on May 4, 2013

From April 25-27th at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, we were thrilled to compete at the 2013 FIRST World Championships, where 400 robots shot discs and climbed pyramids to conquer the challenge of Ultimate Ascent. We finished as quarter-finalists in the Galileo Division as leaders of the 8th alliance.

We left Rochester Hills Wednesday morning, pumped for an intense competition and an overall mind-blowing exhibition of science and technology. The bus ride was a lengthy 10 hours, but it was a fun day of talking, laughing, and, of course, doing homework! We arrived at our hotel at around 6 on Wednesday night, and before sleeping in preparation for the long weekend ahead we ate dinner, swam in the hotel pool, and settled in to our rooms.

On Thursday we woke up bright and early for the first day of competition, and arrived at the dome around 8 o’clock. Since matches didn’t start until 1 (apart from some practice matches), we had time to visit the pits and attend some presentations. There was, as always, some great swag in the pits and we were able to talk to some great people from the hundreds of teams as well as dozens of representatives from companies & colleges who were there. Many different activities were available this year around the pits & in the dome, from a practice defibrillator to a photo-to-button booth to the awesome “Ultimate Orafice” game. Some of us also went to see an awesome Chairman’s panel presentation by some of the teams that had won the Championship Chairman’s Award in the past.

At 1:00, the games for the Galileo district started and we were first up. Alongside teams 4627 and 2834, we started our Championship strong with a win of 125-79 against teams 2175, 4158, and 4452. By the end of the qualification rounds, we had won 6 games and lost 2, putting us at 11th position for alliance selection.

During alliance selection, we were bumped up to captain the #8 alliance, and we chose teams 27 and 1732 to join us.

In our first elimination match we were, admittedly, the underdogs- facing the #1 seeded alliance comprised of teams 118, the first seed, 1114, the second seed, and 4039, the 23rd seed. In the first match we lost 213-170. However, we were extremely excited when we won our second game 166-148 thanks to some awesome defense. We gave the #1 alliance a run for their money in the third match also, but unfortunately we lost it by  record-breaking score of 288-186. The game was full of technical fouls as well as great shooting and defense, and we are glad to have gone out on such an intensely memorable game.

After being eliminated, we moved to Galileo to get ready for what were to be some of the most exciting finals matches we’d ever seen. Two of our closest teams, 469 and 33, who compete with us in OCCRA as well as in the Michigan FIRST competitions, managed to make it to the finals alongside team 1519, and we were glad to see two excellent Michigan teams make it all the way. Unfortunately, the lost the final, but their achievement was still exceptional. In the end, teams 610, 1477, and 1241, who had won our division, were crowned the 2013 FIRST champions. It had been an ascent into awesomeness, that’s for sure.

The awards between finals matches ended a superb FIRST season. We were thrilled to see our sister team in Mexico, team LamBot 3478, take home the Engineering Inspiration Award. They definitely deserved it and we are happy to have such a close relationship with such a committed and spirited team. We hope to see them back at the Championship again next year.

Though the FIRST season is over, we are continuing to work in preparation for Relay for Life and our off-season events such as IRI. Stay tuned for wrap-up videos for the season within the next few weeks.

Make sure to check out our photo gallery from Worlds!

2013 Michigan State Championship Recap and Worlds Preview

Written by AdamBot Student on April 21, 2013

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, April 11th-13th, we competed in the FIRST Robotics Michigan State Championship. It was an intense competition as always, with 64 of the best Michigan teams competing for the champion’s medals. In the end, we did very well, making it into the quarter finals of the elimination matches along with teams 2000, TEAM ROCK, and 3656, the Dreadbots.

The Michigan State Championship was a great ending to an astonishing season of FIRST competitions in Michigan. Every team that was there performed to their fullest and the spirit was spectacular. There were some awesome mascots, from a dragon to a flash of lightning, and the noise of cheering was at one of the highest levels yet in this very exciting season. Match scores were high, with many over 200 and, in the first of two quarter-final matches which we lost, a point difference of only 1!

Congratulations are in order to teams 217,469, and 3539 for winning the elimination matches and becoming co-champions of the 2013 Michigan State Championship. They played some great Ultimate Ascent and will be 3 of the teams to watch come World Championships next week.

We are very happy to have made it as far as we did in such a rigorous competition, and will be hoping to place even better next week in St. Louis, even though doing so would mean getting past dozens of top-quality teams with some seriously well-designed robots. It’s no doubt that at Worlds we’ll see some superb shooting, crazy climbing and perhaps even some new high scores.

Our experience at States was made even better by an appearance by Michigan governor Rick Snyder, and by our winning of the  Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors. It’s a nice recognition of the hard work that our design and build teams did in producing the robot.

As previously mentioned, we will be competing in the World Championships in St.Louis, Missouri this week from Thursday till Saturday. Watch for Persephone in the Galileo division, along with Michigan teams 27, 70, 2000, 2337, 2474, 2834, 3641 and 3656,  and see team 3478, the LamBots, compete in Archimedes! Every member of our team is excited for the great competition ahead and we wish good luck to every team competing.

For a gallery of pictures from States, click here.

Co-written by Kait Whitfoot.

2013 Troy District Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on April 3, 2013

This past Friday and Saturday, the AdamBots competed in their second Michigan District and third FIRST competition of the year, the Troy District at Troy Athens High School in Troy, Michigan. It was a very intense competition and the outcome was great, as we won the Quality Award and the finals, taking home champions medals along with teams 469 and 4377!

We arrived on Friday knowing that the Troy District would be a competitive one. There were lots of great robots with many different designs- from robots that could shoot all the way across the field such as 67’s bot to tall robots such as 4377’s that are designed specifically to block excellent shooters such as 67’s. But, after winning a regional and placing as a finalist in a district, we were confident that we could put up a good fight in Troy.

The qualification matches were exciting, with an exhibition of many different robots of all shapes and sizes and with different abilities. We saw many 30- and even 50-point climbs and multiple games with scores in the 100s. By the end, we were ranked 5th with 9 wins and 3 losses. For the elimination rounds, we were picked by the second-ranked team, 469, Las Guerrillas from International Academy, to join the second alliance, and our alliance was rounded out by team 4377, Boyne City Blaze.

The elimination matches were exciting, with all but 2 finishing with over-100 point scores for at least one alliance. The #1 alliance, with teams 3539, 67, and 4810, almost broke the 200-point barrier, with a score of 199-104 in one of their quarter finals matches! We won our first quarter final match 155-81 and our second 160-84, knocking out the #7 alliance and moving to the semi-finals. We then won the semi-finals 160-64 and 147-92, making it all the way to the finals!

The finals matches were some of the most intense robotics matches we’d ever seen, with discs flying back-and-forth, excellent defense, and full-court shots and climbing from both alliances. In one of the best victories so far this season, we won our first finals match 175-95, and took home the title after winning the second match 140-91. The finals were true exhibitions of what makes FIRST robotics competitions great- they were exciting with awesome robots on both alliances playing Ultimate Ascent with superb shooting and tenacious defense.  They definitely got us pumped for further games at the Michigan State Championship and the World Championship in St. Louis, both which we have qualified for.

The competition was finished off by the usual award ceremony, which was especially great for us as we got not just first place medals but also the Quality Award as well! We were truly honored to receive the award, which is given to a team with an efficient and well-organized robotics program that exemplifies a quality FIRST team.

See you all at Michigan States next week, and at the World Championship in St Louis at the end of the month!

Click here for the gallery of images from the Troy Event. 

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

Build Season 2013 – Week 6 Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on February 18, 2013

The sixth and final week of build has been a crazy one, as all engineering teams have been scrambling to finish putting the robot together and testing it so it will be competition ready when we bag it on Tuesday, February 18th.

We decided to build two robots: one to take to the competition, and one to practice with once the competition bot is bagged. We built the practice robot first so we could figure out any problems that needed to be fixed when we build the final robot.Luckily, by this Saturday, the first robot was almost done, and the chassis for the second was almost complete. Throughout the weekend and on Monday and Tuesday, which were days off school, we have been hard at work to complete and then test both robots.

The Chassis Team are basically done with their work, as both chassis have been made. They have been helping other teams complete their building.

The Climbing Team are practically done with the CAD and, despite a few roadblocks, are making good progress on their build.

The Shooter Team have finished both shooters. They tested the second shooter, using the Field Team‘s goals, with much success, on Saturday….Read More

Build Season 2013 – Week 5 Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on February 12, 2013

The fifth week of our build season was the most stressful yet, with time left to build the robot constantly decreasing and deadlines fast approaching for both engineering and non-engineering teams. Unfortunately, many of the engineering

sub-teams are behind on their work, including the shooter and climbing teams, although with days off school approaching and another week left for build, we should be in good shape to meet our deadline for bag-and-tag.

This week was a busy one, with meetings every day as well as a team photo shoot on Saturday. We also had additional team photos taken for the Rochester “Community First” Award, which honors groups that give back to the local community…Read More

Build Season 2013 – Week 4 Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on February 3, 2013

To say the least, our fourth week of build was a hectic one. Going into it, we seemed to be on time with deadlines for CADding and building, but on Monday we had a snow day. As fun as snow days are, it turnedout to be bittersweet as we were unable to work on our robot at school that day and as such we were very short on time for the rest of the week. Still, progress was made by every team and we should be able to adjust and complete our goals as the build season nears its deadline.

Here are the progressions from the sub-teams this week:

The Chassis Team has finished their first chassis, weighing only 41 pounds! They’ve finished making the transmissions, and started placing bumpers on it. The second chassis is placed on hold until the other teams finish.

Despite the temporary lull, the Climbing Mechanism Team began construction and already has the primary components for the mechanism ready. Although the team has its parts prepared, it is awaiting a finalized design for the robot in order to affirm the mechanism’s exact placement. The transmissions and motors are prepared, so the preliminary trials of the device have begun, starting with basic trials on Saturday…Read More

Build Season 2013 – Week 3 Video Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on

Build Season 2013 – Week 3 Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on January 29, 2013

This week was one of the busiest as we were back to school after exam week and had to work at twice the rate to make up for the time we lost. Luckily we were able to make some excellent progress with our design throughout the week.

On Monday, January 21st, there was no school. This however, did not stop the Adambots from working towards our first competition of the season, being held in four weeks. Throughout the day, multiple sub-groups met , including all build, marketing, and animation teams. It was a very productive start to the week. The rest of the days the build teams worked after school to continue building the robot. While by the end of the week only some of the basic components had been build, we made some good progress and we look on track to complete our goals.

Each team met at some point during the week, with the build teams there almost daily, working diligently to complete their tasks…Read More

Build Season 2013 – Week 1 & 2 Video Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on January 21, 2013

AdamBots wins Safety Animation Award!

Written by AdamBot Student on January 19, 2013

Congratulations to our animation team for winning the award for best safety animation in this year’s FIRST! Watch our animation, “Chain Reaction” here:

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP0v-00It9A&feature=autoshare (youtube.com/frc teams)

Build Season 2013 – Week 2 Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on

Even though this week was exams and we were only able to work for about half the time as usual, we made some progress with prototypes and designs and most teams were able to get some work done. Thisweek the Adambots held more design meetings to get ready for the first competition of the season in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On Tuesday, January 15, their was a team meeting for all members to attend. Many of the sub-teams also met, such as marketing, which has been working on things specifically for the Myrtle Beach competition, such as a new t-shirt design.

The Chassis Team is still waiting for parts to arrive. Almost all of the chassis has been drawn on CAD, and until parts arrive the team will focus on training the new students. Several members have started to build the slots for the motor mounts.

Over the past week, the Programming Team has been getting ready to program the robot as it becomes done. The team discussed a few new ways to identify and track the new reflective targets, and tested out the new cameras. The team set up a Git version-control system to better organize program updates and tests, which should allow for faster and more-convenient changes to the robot during the last few days of the build season. The team also tested last year’s motor controllers to be ready for when this year’s robot comes along…Read More  

Build Season 2013 – Design Week Recap

Written by AdamBot Student on January 15, 2013

The 2013 FIRST game, Ultimate Ascent, was finally announced at the January 5^th kickoff, and since the AdamBots have begun discussing, creating, and testing designs for this year’s robot.

The first week and a half of the FIRST build season has been, as ever, extremely busy as we’ve had to start from the beginning again to create a brand new robot design, one that is now challenged to shoot discs, climb pyramids, and compete in a game that will require a lot of strategy.

To begin our ascent into this year’s competition, we met at Crittenton Hospital to discuss the new game. After a thought-provoking presentation about Ultimate Ascent by mentor Rick Drummer, we split up into six different teams to come up with designs for the robot and its different mechanisms. This year we had many elements of the robot to consider, including the type of shooter, method of disc pickup, whether or not we wanted to climb, and what size robot we wanted to make. The meeting was very productive and we came up with some interesting and varied designs…Read More