The Becker Robotics team traveled to Duluth last weekend to participate in their first regional contest at the Entertainment Convention Center.

 

Excitement was soaring as hundreds of FIRST Robotics students piled into the arena in anticipation of Minnesota's premiere robotics competition.

 

Becker’s team 4607 CIS equipped their fans and friends who traveled with them with  glowing, red toy light sabers. Some were sporting cardboard CIS shields and another had a sign that read “hello from the dark side.” 

 

It all makes sense when one appreciates the Star Wars-themed team.

 

As Friday's qualification matches commenced, all 63 teams at the Lake Superior Regional got their opportunities to duke it out on the playing field. As always in FIRST, each alliance was made up of three different teams or three different robots working together against the opposing alliance. 

 

The goal of FIRST Stronghold was to breach the enemy's wall of defenses and score gator balls in the other alliance's tower. As the competition advanced, robots were steered towards climbing the castle in order to receive more points. 

 

The medieval-themed tournament was action-packed and  required numerous strategic communication between teams.

 

Becker’s CIS Robotics started off strong Friday with calm and collected performances from all members of the drive team.

 

Despite 4607's fall in the regional rankings throughout the day, each match came through with new challenges and achievements, including several successful climbs of the opponents' towers. 

 

After each match, the CIS students were working hard in the pit area to repair and revamp components of the robot as necessary.

 

As Becker’s robot improved in qualification matches, the CIS marketing squad armed themselves with various promotional items including Becker Robotics wristbands, trading cards and the crowd-favored lip balm. The students interacted with almost every team at the regional and successfully gave away all of their marketing souvenirs. 

 

In addition, 4607's awards and submissions team presented in front of a panel of judges for the coveted Chairman's Award, an honor that highlights the robotics team that most efficiently and elaborately embodies the values of communication, cooperation and gracious professionalism in the FIRST world.

 

Although CIS did not come home with the prestigious award, the experience and feedback prepared the students even more for their next regional in April.

 

The qualification matches continued Saturday morning at the DECC and the CIS drive team decided to change up their strategy and play a little more defense. Not many robots at the regional elected to play defense, making 4607 a desired group to team up with. 

 

Soon thereafter, time came for the elimination rounds which consisted of the top eight ranked teams picking robots for each of their alliances. With their valuable defensive performances, the CIS drive team managed to get chosen by the seventh-seeded team, made up of 3102, The Tech-No-Tigers, and 2526, Crimson Robotics.

 

Each alliance was tasked with winning two out of three matches in order to move on. 4607's first elimination round went down to the wire. Losing the first match and winning the second, CIS' alliance fought valiantly against the number two alliance. Despite their best strategic efforts, 4607's alliance lost the third match and was eliminated from the tournament.

 

Although the result of the Lake Superior Regional was  a disappointment for the members of Becker Robotics, their team took away many positives from their first regional of 2016. The marketing team hit their objectives out of the park and their fan section proved be the most enthusiastic group at the DECC. 

 

More importantly, the CIS students are adequately prepared for their next regional in Minneapolis next month. 

 

“This event was one of the best showings of our team,” said 4607 team captain Kami Ziebarth. “Overall, each individual should be incredibly proud of their hard work and commitment thus far in the season.” 

 

Ziebarth said she was proud of her team and they “functioned so smoothly that the outlook for our next regional is optimistic.”

 

The upcoming Minnesota Regional will take place April 6-9 at  Mariucci Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota.