Circuit Breakers finish 16th at FIRST robotics districts
Last updated 4/9/2015 at 9:43am
The Medical Lake High School Circuit Breakers' season concluded April 4 at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Pacific Northwest District Championships robotics competition at Eastern Washington University.
The Circuit Breakers, who were competing in the district championships for the first time, finished 16th out of 64 teams.
Prior to districts, the Circuit Breakers competed at regional events at West Valley High School where they finished second, and at Central Washington University. At both events, they received the Rockwell Automation Innovation in Control Award.
This year's challenge for the competition was "Recycle Rush." Three teams in an alliance scored points by having their robots stack totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and disposing pool noodles into the containers.
At the district championships, The Circuit Breakers won four of their 12 qualification matches. Like the previous competitions, alliances were chosen at random, which can make it difficult for teams to come up with a solid strategy before their match.
Boaz Guidry, one of the drivers for the Circuit Breakers, said districts were a little stressful for the team, but also fun.
"It feels pretty good to be here," Guidry said before the Circuit Breakers' final qualifying match. "There was a lot of work to get here and this competition shows how far we've come."
In between matches, the Circuit Breakers, along with other teams, made modifications to their machine and downloaded the latest software patches.
"The longer rest period gives us more time to prepare," Guidry said.
After the qualification matches were the quarterfinal rounds. Unlike the qualification round, the top eight-seeded teams selected two other groups for their alliance. Although none of the teams selected Medical Lake, the Circuit Breakers earned an alternate spot.
"During the alliance selection, when you have two stacking teams the third robot has to have unique qualities," Bernie Polikowsky, one of the team's mentors, said. "But we are proud of our whole team. Their robot performed flawlessly for 12 matches."
The Circuit Breaker's robot, which they worked on and modified since Christmas break, perform one last time as Medical Lake substituted for the Wildcats, from Westview High School in Beaverton, Ore., in the last match of the competition.
Although their alliance lost, the Circuit Breakers received a District Championship Finalist award and finished 38th out of 152 teams in the entire Pacific Northwest Division.
Polikowsky, who gets help from Ryan Burtchett and and Dennis Schweikhardt said the team won't lose many students to graduation.
"We've got some solid continuity and leadership for the next couple of years," Polikowsky said. "We're really excited for next year."
Micah Jones is one of the Circuit Breakers who focus on the marketing aspect of the team. He shares Polikowsky's optimism about the team for next year.
"We're really happy we got 16th," Jones said. "We got this far and we'll get here next year."
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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