Concord’s robotics team CHS Full Metal Jackets had completely redesigned and fixed their robot for competition less than two weeks after their last competition. They were ready for whatever was thrown their way.
On Thursday afternoon, March 21, the Concord High School robotics team set out for their second season competition. That night they had many setbacks due to things not working, things not loading, and things not being the way they were supposed to be. Even though they did have some setbacks, they did not give up. Mr. Simmons the teacher and coach explained, “The biggest challenge to overcome was whether it worked or not and the success was that it did work the way we did want.”
On Friday morning, they came in with positive mindsets thus leading to a great day. They participated in twelve matches, ending at 53 matches out of 80. Throughout the day people collected pins and learned things about other teams. Dakota Hamilton shares her favorite part, “ Just being there was awesome. Everyone both on our team and on the other teams were awesome and really fun to be around.”
Brayden Grindall shares one of his favorite parts about the day, “I loved seeing our team just having fun no matter what happened. Our team was just enjoying being there, together.”
On Saturday, they played their number of matches and landed in 22nd place for alliances. The top eight teams picked out their alliances. Here is a link to how alliances work. The first-place team in the alliance 5676, The F.A.S.T from Fowlerville, and 5676, The H.E.R.O.S from Hillsdale, called up 5205, CHS Full Metal Jackets to join their alliance. Everyone was excited and glad to have an alliance with them. Maddox Hutchinson shares his experience about being picked: “I had a chance to go up there and accept the alliance. It was my favorite part of the day.”
Once everyone picked their alliances, they hopped right into bracket play. Concord and the alliances played in the winner’s bracket till match 11. They dropped down to the loser’s bracket and earned another chance at redemption. They did not give up hope and fought to the end, making it to the finals where they faced off against the team that had beaten them before. The other teams were 3655, Tractor Technicians from Mason, 5641, Byron Robotics from Byron, and 8608, Alpha Bots from Battle Creek. They played best 2 out of 3. In the first round, they were in the blue till the end. The colors represent what team goes on what side of the field and who is in an alliance with whom. At the end of the round, the score was 77 red – 58 blue. In the second round, they had some problems causing them not to function. The ending score was 111 red – 72 blue. They ended the day coming in 2nd place.
Even though they did not come first, the Concord team was happy with their success. Grindall shares his thoughts on the experience, “Even though we didn’t win the competition, I would say we still did lightyears better than we previously did and that is a win in my book.”
Issac Knash shares his thoughts about coming in second place, “I would say the support from the other teams in the alliance. They were fun to work with.”
Congratulations to CHS Full Metal Jackets, Concord can’t wait to see what you come up with for next year’s challenge.
