Ann Arbor Skyline wins District FIRST Robotics Championship

Ann Arbor Skyline joined 39 high school FIRST  (Foundation in Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics teams in a two day district competition at Livonia Churchill High school this past weekend.

The 2012 competition game, “Rebound Rumble” involves robots shooting  basketballs for points with extra points for balancing robots on mid-field bridges within a 3 minute game period.

Skyline team 3322, the Eagle Imperium, distinguished itself  by placing first at the end of 80 qualification matches, earning the right to select it’s teammates as the top alliance in elimination rounds. Pairing with Bedford Express team 1023 and  the Southgate Titan team 2620, the 3322 eagle Imperium was victorious in two of the three final matches to claim the championship medals.

One of the remarkable turns in the final rounds exhibited the spirit of gracious “co-opertition” that marks FIRST competitions. A robot on the opposing team broke a fuse breaker and did not have a replacement, making the robot inoperable for the final round. Skyline team, who did have a replacement, rushed to their repair pit to find the part and bring it to their opponent so they could repair their robot for the final round. But Skyline was also experiencing robot damage and was racing to try to fix it within the allotted time between rounds. The opposition then used their own time out to provide the Skyline team with enough extra time to have the Eagle robot up for action. While the Skyline team ultimately prevailed in the final contest, they gave the trophy basketball net to their opponents to signify that both sides  had supported each other and the win was for everyone.

Skyline, now ranked fourth in the state among 190 teams, will proceed to the State championship at EMU Fieldhouse on April 12-14.  Skyline also anticipates qualifying for the FIRST National Championships in St. Louis on April 25-28.

Skyline also received two other awards at the competition for the best website and the best team image. For more information on FIRST, please visit  www.usfirst.org. For more information and pictures of the Skyline team 3322, please visit http://www.skylinerobotics.org.

–News brief courtesy of Susan Weir

 

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