Hey guys! Boy do we have news for you!

Our team entered our second meet with confidence, a smile, and working robot. With it being our second competition we had a prior knowledge that would help to our advantage.

Our first four matches we were anywhere between 1st and 3rd place. With an amazing drive team and allies through those matches we were able to win 4/6. As a result of losing our last two matches, we sadly finished 11th out of about 32 other teams.

But! A top team call the RoboToasters chose us, as their first alliance partner pick! We played the semi-finals and with a working robot on our side we had a good chance of making it further, sadly we did not.

But that’s no all. We were presented the the judges choice award. A runner up for multiple awards including: the motivate award, the Rockwell Collins Innovative award, and last but certain lay not least the… wait for it… 2nd place for the Inspire award! Given to the teams as the FTC ‘role model’with the second place being a ticket to states. Wait for it…

We advanced!!! Our team has never been more excited and proud than ever before. And we look forward to going in the adventure of life time at states! Stay tuned for more information.Battle Creek here we come ready to crunch some cereal!!!

A synopsis on the awards…

From Bedford Express Qualifier:

Inspire Award:(2nd place)
The Inspire Award is given to the Team that the Judges felt truly embodied the ‘challenge’ of the FTC program. This Team serves as an inspiration to what this program, and the young minds involved, can accomplish. The Team that receives this Award has performed well in all Judging categories and was chosen by the Judges as a model FIRST Tech Challenge Team. The Judges use Match performance, observations made during interviews and in the pit area, the Team’s Engineering Notebook, and performance on the playing field in determining the winner.

Rockwell Collins’ Innovate Award: (Nominee)
The Rockwell Collins Innovate Award celebrates a Team that not only thinks outside the box, but also has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. This Award is given to the Team that the Judges feel has the most Innovative and Creative Robot design solution to the FIRST Tech Challenge to any or all specific field elements or components. Elements of this Award include elegant design, robustness and ‘out of the box’ thinking with regard to design. This Award may address the design of the whole robot or some sub-assembly component attached to the robot. The creative component needs to work consistently, but a robot does not have to work all of the time during Matches to be considered for this Award. The Team’s Engineering Notebook shows the design of the component(s) and the Team’s robot, and succinctly describes how the Team arrived at that solution.

Motivate Award: (Nominee)
This Judged Award celebrates the Team that exemplifies the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through Team building, Team spirit and exhibited enthusiasm. This Team celebrates their Team, their individuality and their spirit through Team attire, and exhibits their outstanding Team spirit. This Teams enthusiasm and spirit motivates others to embrace the culture of the competition and FIRST. The Team has also made a collective effort to make FIRST known throughout their school and community.

Judges Award: (Winner)
The Judges Award is given at the discretion of the Judges to a Team they have encountered whose unique efforts, performance or dynamics merit recognition, yet the Team does not fit into any of the existing Award categories.

From Hartland Qualifier:

Think Award: (Winner)
The Think Award is given to the Team that the Judges feel best understands the role of the engineering notebook in the design process. The Engineering Notebook is the key reference for Judges to help them identify the most deserving Team. This Team’s Engineering Notebook focuses on the design and build stages of the Team’s robot and exemplifies their journey as a team and engineers.

Award Synopsis’ from http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc/ftc-awards

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