Robotics Teams Compete at Brownell-Talbot
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBy Emma Risinger
On Saturday, November 4, Pierce’s robotics teams, 71414A Twisted Elix’rs, 71414J Simply Lovely, and 71414S Ice Age competed at the Brownell-Talbot VEX Robotics Tournament.
The tournament was composed of 36 teams made up of teams from as far west as Ravenna and as far south as Kansas City, Missouri.
Beginning with the details of the game, the challenge the robots had to overcome is called Over Under Blended Vex Robotics Competition, which is played on a 12 by 12 square feet field. Two alliances - one "red" and one "blue" - composed of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a fifteen second autonomous period, followed by a one minute and forty-five second driver controlled period. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by scoring triballs in goals, and by elevating at the end of the match.
“I think that our team performed very well. We were able to win all except one qualification match, putting us in the fifth ranking,” remarks senior Amber Shefl, who is a member of the Twisted Elix’rs team. “For the finals we paired with 1970X, the Knightmares, and we won two matches, putting us in the semifinals. Unfortunately, with the scores being close and some rules being pushed we didn’t win the match. Although I’m not completely satisfied with the results, I’m glad we did make it as far as we did. Now we’re getting ready for January and rebuilding.”
As for the skills results, the score is based on the sum of the driver and autonomous points earned. 71414A Twisted Elixi’rs finished seventh with a score of 178, and 71414S Ice Age ended in 20th with a score of 73.
In the qualification match, 71414A Twisted Elix’rs finished 6-1 in fifth position, 71414S Ice Age went 5-2 to finish in 11th position, and 71414J Simply Lovely finished 0-7 and were not selected for the single elimination tournament.
In tournament selection, Twisted Elix’rs selected the Knightmare team from Elkhorn Mount Michael who is the same team they selected in the previous tournament. Pierce’s team felt the strengths compliment each other. Ice Age selected S.W.A.T from Wahoo who they worked well with during one of the qualification matches.
In the tournament, round of sixteen, Twisted Elix’rs and Knightmare won with 132 points against Lechuga from Wahoo and Dr. Pepper from Omaha with 106. Ice Age and S.W.A.T also claimed a victory with 92 points after going against JankKing from Elkhorn South and The Paper Standoffs from Stromsburg with 88 points.
In the quarterfinals, the alliance of Twisted Elix’rs and Knightmare won with 128 points against the alliance, You Ready? and Hog Wild Pit Barbeque, teammates from Brownell-Talbot, which scored 95 points.
Ice Age and S.W.A.T, with 72 points, took a loss to Volt from Omaha and Washed from Brownell-Talbot, scoring 149.
In the semifinals, Twisted Elix’rs and Knightmare did not score at all due to a disqualification. Their opponents, Fuzzy from Omaha and Washed from Brownell-Talbot, scored 102 points.
Twisted Elix’rs and Knightmare scored enough to win but in the last 10 seconds of the match, the Knightmare robot crashed into the opposing team and tipped over one of their robots. This was deemed a major infraction by the judges, which meant automatic disqualification for the partnership. Fuzzy and Washed went on to win the tournament.
“The teams had little time to make adjustments from the Omaha South tournament to this one given all the activities for Pierce High students this week,” said coach Treva Dostal. “The quality builds have shown through the last two weeks as the robots have faced a lot more crashing and banging from other robots. The teams are looking forward to some time before our next competition to make improvements to the current designs.”
While the next competition for the robotics team is currently to be announced, possible dates include December 16 at Omaha North or January 13, 2024, at the The Antler-Wolf-Storm Classic in Elkhorn.
