Dalton Defends Title at Super-Regional Robotics Tournament

All three teams ended up with difficult draws in the qualifying rounds and had to adjust quickly to the heightened level of competition. The extended format of the event meant that teams had to fix continually and maintain their robots between matches. At one point, an essential component of Standard Model's scoring mechanism broke, forcing them to improvise with the parts that they had on hand. By the end of the qualifying matches, both Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity demonstrated that their plan to specifically design robots that would work well with the most commonly used design from the other top teams had paid off, and Quantum Mechanics set a tournament record for points without penalties with their partner i2Robotics.

 

Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity were both chosen as members of the four alliances in the Tesla Division Playoffs. Quantum struggled in their first round, whereas General had their best match of the tournament. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough; their partner's placement mechanism jammed during the match, effectively leaving General 2-on-1 against two strong teams. They ended up being eliminated in the first round while Quantum's alliance advanced to the Division Finals. There, Quantum rose to the challenge, scoring more points than any other robot in their match and helping their alliance win the division.

 

Quantum's win earned them a spot at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis, where they will compete against the 144 best robotics teams in the world. Only the top 3% of teams advance to the World Championship, and this marks Dalton's third year in a row of reaching that level. Please join us in congratulating all of our robotics teams for their hard work and success this season!

Story by Middle and High School Robotics and Computer Science Teacher Michael Sloan Warren
Photos by George Marchant and Charles Forster