All posts by Karl Saling

West Michigan by Gin

West Michigan 

The West Michigan competition had me wanting to go back and relive it all. The tears, the nervousness and the excitement most of all. The emotions that had gone through me, they had me on the edge of my seat. Field wise, I truly found it interesting to watch how intense and how thick the air had gotten around other teams when the matches began. 

I find taking close shots of the robots to be pretty neat. I enjoy paying attention to the details of them– how the teams designed them and how they function in general. When getting to take photos, I tend to bond with other teams. It allows me to have an open conversation with them and take time to get to know them as a person as well as their skills within the team. 

The sweetest part of robotics is connecting with others, and finding others like you within your community. West Michigan had me on the edge, though. Watching our robot, Artemis, get rammed by other robotics over again worried me, because after the Belleville competition, the metal bar on our robot bent. But in the long run with West Michigan, she stayed put together and in amazing condition. She held up during her matches, and excelled in her performance.

The matches we had were fantastic, better than what I expected. Our team was getting score after score, and only improving more and more after each match. Hearing our drive captain Tyler talk about it before, though my only concern is whether the team makes it to states or not. When 5th place rolled around, I found myself pretty happy, knowing we were going to states. But I didn’t expect what would happen next, when the alliance section came along. When we asked 6090 to partner with us, they denied us that offer. 

The teams who accepted us were 6121 and 3546. They were amazing alliance partners and nicest people I’ve ever met. We qualified for finalists, teaming up with them. We played hard to get with our robot. We went against the other teams during the playoffs. We didn’t win exactly, but in the end we got second place within our team which I found to be a win. 

Hearing the news of this made my eyes water, so happy to hear the news I hugged Ryan beside me and sobbed into his arms. Our team winning an award caused me to be in tears, the happiness I felt in that moment and the proudest of my team hit me. Watching my friends cheer, scream and try their best out there had paid off.

So, why don’t we give it one last call? 3….2….1…. LIGHTS! CAMERA! HOLLYWOOOOOD!!!!

Shout out to the Constellations, Team 7598! 

The Constellations are known for their high energy, their kindness and their spirit within the team. And the loudest cheering you’ll ever hear within a match, they’re hard to miss with how bright they are and loud they get. “75! 98!” they’ll shout during their matches with a smile on their faces. They are a colorful bunch and an inspiring group of people.

West Michigan by Scott

Hey there, my name is Scott O’Neill, and I wanted to talk about my experience at the West Michigan event in Allendale, Michigan. 

Day 1

I was eagerly awaiting the competition at school that day. We were leaving immediately after school. Some of my teachers asked about it during the day, and I talked to them about it. After school, I ran out to my parents’ car and quickly got my stuff, said goodbye to my mom, and went back inside the school. While we were waiting to leave, I was hanging out with my best friend. She was kinda sad I had to leave but I said my goodbyes to her. We hung out for about 10-15 minutes before we walked out the door. 

 

My ride at the time was chosen to be Sandra, one of our mentors. She has two twin boys, Sean and Brandon. I rode with all of them, as well as our photographer Gin and my fellow CAD teammate and Safety Captain, Salem.We all piled in and we set off on the two and a half hour drive to the Grand Valley State University arena. Along the way, we stopped at a rest stop and used the bathroom and got some drinks. Sandra even put on some of my favorite tunes, Bon Jovi. We were jamming the whole way there. When we got to Grand Rapids, driving through the main city on the highway was certainly a sight to see. It looked stunning. After about 15 or so more minutes of driving through some smaller city, we arrived at Grand Valley State University. It was already so busy there. After we found parking, we found our head mentor, Jake, unloading already. I grabbed something and made my way inside for the first time. 

 

Inside the arena was absolutely stunning. I could see the pits; teams setting up their pit areas, and the field set up being finished by volunteers. I made my way to our pit area. When I got there, I remember setting up our tent and grabbing a table for our pit. Eventually our robot, Artemis, was wheeled in. It was amazing seeing our bot that we spent 8 weeks making and testing finally here. Eventually our drive coach Tyler arrived. We talked about running practice matches with Artemis until we couldn’t anymore for the night. So that’s what we did. We ran I believe 6 practice matches. The feeling of being the source player was absolutely adrenaline filling. It was only practice matches yet it was already exciting. We finally left around 9:30 PM that night. I really hadn’t eaten anything then minus a slice of pizza since school lunch nearly 12 hours ago. I was tired and hungry then. The most notable thing about the drive back was the view I had of downtown Grand Rapids. There was this bend that started the freeway, and it had the most perfect view. I was also driving to the hotel with our Mechanical team mentor Shaun and his son Ryan. We sang Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” together and it was perfect. I was pretty sleepy then, but it was nice. 

 

By the time we got back to the hotel I was famished and wanted to delve into my snacks. I got my t-shirts and went up to my room. I was sharing with our drive team driver Nate, and sharing with Sean and Brandon, the same two I had driven up here with. I got there and began absolutely demolishing my snacks. We were told to meet up at the main lobby a few minutes later, so we did. Once I got down there everyone was there and Jake was talking about how excited he was for the event and looking forward to everything. All of the basics like hotel rules and event rules were talked about too. Eventually we broke off and did our own thing. Our drive coach Tyler had ordered the drive team some McDonalds since we haven’t eaten dinner and I was grateful for that. I was excited and feeling better now that I had some food in my system. I hung out with my roommates and eventually we fell asleep around midnight. 

 

Day 2

Day two started off with Nate’s alarm going off at 5AM. We had agreed that we were going to all get up at 6AM. That was kinda rough but I went back to sleep. We got up at 6AM then and we all got ready to go, wearing our red t-shirts that day. Eventually we all made it down to the lobby and had some complimentary breakfast. I had some Biscuits and Gravy, and potatoes. I had also sat by our Safety Mentor Don. We were talking, but the thing that really made me happy talking to Don was my writing. I love to write sometimes, as you can probably tell from reading this, and I told him about what I write sometimes and how I love doing so with my best friend. He actually seemed interested in hearing about it and actually gave me suggestions to add in. I was extremely grateful for Don then, and it’s one of the very few times I could talk about it. Don, if you’re reading this, thank you. 

 

After breakfast, the drive team was told to leave first. Drive team consisted of Tyler, our coach, Nate, our driver, Noah, our operator, me, the source player, Ryan, the amp player, and Andrew and Avery, our technicians. Me, Nate, Noah, and mentor “Kaaaaarrrll” all drove back to Grand Valley State University and got there first. We got everything setup once we got there. 

 

Our first match was match 7. We were with 8611 and 244. That match was rough because we were doing so well but then got hit with a battery issue near the end of the match. Our bot was stuttering and didn’t move consistently. We still managed to climb but unfortunately lost by one point, starting out 0-1.

 

I wheeled our bot back to the pits and parked it. Our pit crew resolved the issue after we got back. During then I was going around with Nate and Tyler to strategize for our next match. After we got back, the judges had found us and began asking us about our robot. I had talked with them about the engineering behind the robot and showed them the engineering notebook that me and the CAD team had made. They seemed impressed and we gave them a notebook to keep and review. 

 

Our next match was match 12, that match was an experience. We were with 141 and 2959. Our amp player Ryan was gone to get lunch, and we didn’t have a backup, so I had to play the amp station. I had zero prior experience here before so it was a rush. I kept asking Tyler what I had to do and had to make sure I had to get everything right. When the match rolled around, I was panicking but I mostly got everything right, and was able to somewhat work the amp effectively. I froze in the last 20 seconds and about 5 seconds left I finally threw my shots. We won that match 57-38, going 1-1.

 

Our next match was match 20. We were with 3572 and 3546.that match was overall a really smooth match and things operated well. We kinda broke 9223’s defense mechanism but it was kinda funny. We won 69-29, going 2-1

 

Our next match was match 25. We were with 9721 and 4855. I wasn’t in this match because we had Ryan in at the amp station, but it’s all in the name of strategy. I was up in the stands scouting other teams. Ryan did well on the amp, and it was a good match. We won 58-46, going 3-1

 

I believe lunch was after this match, and we had Panda Express then. Drive team ate first, and the orange chicken Sandra brought was really good. I ate a lot of that. I had two fortune cookies then, one of which said “Your success is inevitable.” It gave the team hope that we were gonna go all the way, and it was nice to see too. We still had some time after lunch so I helped the team wherever I could.

 

Our next match, match 31, was after. We were with 85 and 6094. It was kinda rough this match because I was kinda forced to feed all 3 bots. Their human player was not paying any attention. It was kinda frustrating. We lost 62-53, going 3-2.

 

Our next match, match 36, was a very interesting match.  We were with 288 and 107. Ryan was in on this match on the amp. Both sides worked very well with each other, and was overall a cool match. This is the kicker, the score was a tie 80-80, making us 3-2-1

 

Our next match, match 46, was a little problematic but it was okay. We were with 6002 and 1918. I noticed about halfway through the match that we were having intake issues. The note was not going into the robot correctly. It caused us to have to switch strategy to getting notes to our side. We did end up winning that match, 66-31, going 4-2-1.

 

Our next match, 56, was another tense but good match. We were with 9223 and 2767. Ryan was in again and things ran smoothly on our side. We won 73-63, going 5-2-1.

 

That was the last match for the day. After that match I was tired and hungry. I just wanted to get back to the hotel and relax for the day since we’d been there all day. We finally left around 7PM that day. I was with Shaun and Ryan that ride again, as well as Nate and Noah. We had a good laugh along the way. I was mega sleepy then and ready to smash some dinner. When we got back, I had a lot of pizza to eat. I felt good afterwards. Then we went to the pool and hung out and had a good time together as a team. We went to the outdoor pool and hot tub. Personally, I just relaxed in the pool and watched everyone have a good time. I enjoyed it as much as everyone else. Afterwards, Sean grabbed some pizza for the room and us roomies enjoyed snacks and pizza and pop. We stayed up until about 12:30 before we slept. 

 

Overall, day two was a really successful day and I was looking forward to playoffs and day 3.

 

Day 3

I had woken up and gotten ready, as well as packing up. We all did our thing and went down to breakfast with our luggage. I ate the same thing as yesterday and enjoyed some coffee. Sandra had taken my stuff and eventually I was on the road again to Grand Valley with the same crew as yesterday. Our first match was first thing in the morning so we were on the field for the opening ceremony. Eventually, it was time.

 

Our first match, match 61, was a somewhat good match. We were with 3458 and 8397. It overall was a smooth match and things worked well. We were accurate and could work well. Overall a decent match. We won 44-35, going 6-2-1.

 

Our next match, match 66, was very good. We were with 6090 and 4003. This was probably my best match as a human player because me and 6090’s human player worked so well together. Communication was perfect, delivery to the bots was amazing, and all intakes were quick and optimized. We won 92-68, going 7-2-1

 

Our next match, match 71, was really wacky. It was wacky because we were against 6090, and they had a reason to give the judges to replay the match. We ended up replaying that match later in the day. 

 

Our next match, 78, was a big oh no moment. We were with 6114 and 9206. Our intake had finally caved in during the match. It was scary because the intake is one of our core functions in our bot. We unfortunately lost 77-50, going 7-3-1

 

In between this match we had to figure out what was gonna work for this replay and playoffs. We figured out a new strategy after some worry. Our pit crew took over fixing the intake too.

 

The replay of match 71 was next, and we were with 216 and 74. This match was really a huge breath of air because the intake was working again, and both sides were high scoring. Some more effective planning led us to a win, 87-79, making us 8-3-1 going into playoffs

 

Also we gave out our team awards, and the most notable one was to our good friends, 7598 the Constellations. We were both supportive of each other during the entire competition and during the Belleville competition two weeks ago.

 

Now, for the second half of day 3. Alliance selection, playoffs, and the drive home.

 

We were the captain of the third alliance. After some consideration, we ended up choosing 3546 Buc’n Gears and 6121 Robo Vikes. Both teams are really really good and work with us well. We ended up strategizing and found that Ryan on amp works for us best. So, unfortunately, I was in the stands for the rest of the time. It’s okay though because Ryan did amazing.

 

Our matches together during semifinals were a huge exciting thrill, and all three of us worked extremely well together. We ended up winning our three matches. The scores were 104-74, 105-83, and 112-88. All three matches were our highest scoring of the day. All three wins with our alliance meant we were locked into the finals. The entire drive team was stellar. 

 

During then, the Constellations had come and sat with us to cheer us on. I swear we were the loudest out of everyone in that entire arena. They are an awesome team and their team spirit is unmatched. 

 

Now it was time for finals. It was our alliance versus 5675, 244, and 6090. Tyler had let me walk with the drive team even though I wasn’t in at the time to compete. It felt like an absolute honor. Finals worked in a best out of 3 situation, so it was either two or three more matches left. Our first match was an unfortunate loss, even though it was the most exciting match ever. It was exhilarating. We ended up sadly losing that match 76-90. The second match we sadly lost 94-75. That was the end of West Michigan

 

After that, Constellations had won an award and we were extremely supportive of them. We won an award ourselves for being finalists of the event. Our alliance got trophies, plaques, and every individual team member got a medal. After that, we packed up, got a picture together as an alliance, and we had a team meeting together. Jake discussed how awesome West Michigan was and how we are going to States. Everybody barely had any voice left. Tyler had honored me with being able to take the plaque home, and I hadn’t felt a better feeling. 

 

Now it was time to go home. I rode home with the same crew I had gotten here with, Sandra and all them. It was a long car ride but felt short. I slept for a good chunk of it. Sandra took me home and I slept great that night.

 

That is my experience with 7211 Hollywood during the West Michigan event.

WE WON!!!

Team Hollywood Robotics from Holly High School, went to Zeeland, MI at Zeeland East High School to compete at the West Michigan Robotics Invitational which is an off-season robotics competition with 32 teams attending hosted by 5 teams local to the area. Team Hollywood struggled greatly during qualifying starting from the first match where their robot, Pete Stop, tipped over due to a steering motor malfunction. Their robot has competed in 4 regular season events, 8 off-season events with 2 more scheduled, 149 recorded matches so far with countless hours more in practice time. Team Hollywood placed 31st out of 32 teams at the end of qualifying. They were the second pick of a 4 team alliance by the #2 seeded team, Manchester High School’s Digital Dislocators and joined by the first pick, Clarkston’s Team R.U.S.H. and back-up team, Hamilton High School’s CyberHawks. Their alliance battled through semi-finals winning every match. The finals came down to their alliance and the #1 seeded alliance who had worked themselves back up from the lower bracket after being beaten in round 3 of semi-finals. With a huge showing in playoffs, Team Hollywood won the tournament with their alliance after 3 very close matches!

 

Lights, Camera… HOLLYWOOD!

 

Team Hollywood’s next competition will be the Great Lakes Bot Bash at Herbert Henry Dow High School in Midland, MI Saturday, October 28th. Come cheer on your team!

West Michigan Robotics Invitational

This coming weekend a very small portion of the team will be travelling west to Zeeland, MI to compete at the West Michigan Robotics Invitational hosted by teams 85 Team B.O.B., 107 Team R.O.B.O.T.I.C.S., 141 WoBot, 1617 The NC Gears and 2771 CodeRed Robotics. There will only be 2 teams there that we are very familiar with in 27 Team RUSH and 3538 RoboJackets. Our hotel-mates from the FIRST World Chimpionship, 2075 Enigma, will be there as well. There are 32 teams in total attending the event. Let’s root on our drive team and hope they get a win this off-season! See you all Tueday at the meeting!

Team List

27 – Clarkston Schools – Team RUSH
74 – Holland High / Black River High Schools – CHAOS
85 – Zeeland Public Schools – B.O.B.
107 – Holland Christian High School – Team R.O.B.O.T.I.C.S.
141 – West Ottawa High School – WOBOT
858 – Wyoming Public Schools – Demons Robotics
904 – Grand Rapids Public Schools – D-Cubed
1918 – NC RESA – NC GEARS
2054 – Hopkins Public Schools – Techvikes
2075 – West Catholic High School – Enigma
2767 – Kalamazoo 4-H – Stryke Force
2771 – Code Red Robotics
3357 – Forest Hills Public Schools – COMETS
3452 – Berrien Springs Public Schools – GreengineerZ
3458 – Holland Area Home School – Code Blue
3538 – Avondale – RoboJackets
3546 – Grand Haven – The Buc’n’Gears
3572 – Mona Shores High School – Wavelength
4004 – Muskegon Area Robotics Students Inc. – M.A.R.S. Rovers
4855 – South Haven High School – Ramageddon
4967 – Paradise Teams, Inc. – That ONE Team
5927 – iCademy Global – Globetrotters
6081 – Manchester Community School – Digital Dislocators
6090 – Wayland Union Schools – Wayland Wildcats
6114 – Hamilton High School – Hamilton CyberHawks
7054 – South Christian High School – SC Sailors
7160 – Ludington High School – Ludington O-Bots
7211 – Holly High School – Hollywood
8612 – Calvin Christian High School – Calvin Christian Robotics
9106 – Grand Rapids Catholic Central – Spires
9176 – Greenspire High School – Steel Sturgeons
9206 – Grand River Prep High School – Grand River Titans

Reflection on the 2023 Season

Since it has been a while since we have posted anything, I figured I would write a little something about our entire Charged UP season.

Kick off started in the usual fashion with the team getting straight to work on a design for our robot. The students came up with some great ideas and got started immediately on building prototypes for different intake designs. With the guidance of our mentors, they ultimately decided that gripper was the best idea for our robot. Then, they started working on designing what the robot frame would look like and how we would accomplish moving the pieces from the human player stations to the scoring grid. Our mechanical team got right to work on building the chassis for our robot and by the time they had that done, we had a complete design done and we got the frame of our robot completely built. The part that took us the longest to make and perfect, was our arm and wrist. If you have ever seen our robot, you’ll know that the arm and wrist are one of the most impressive parts of our robot.  Because our robot is just barely below the height threshold set by FIRST, we quickly realized how top heavy it was. We still had some weight that we could add to the robot to counteract our balance issues when the arm was fully extended so we started looking into counterweights. One of the most amazing parts of our robots, is the positional counterweight that moves into different positions as the arm moves up and down and is dependent on whether the robot is driving forward or backward adding extra weight to the front facing part of the chassis. We got our robot completed before our Week 0 event and began construction of a 2nd robot that would be our competition robot, which we have never been able to do before.

While all of this was going on, our marketing team was hard at work coming up with designs for our pit, buttons, competition shirts and a multitude of other items. One of the things we got this year was our first 3D printer. We didn’t do too much with it right away but one of our mentors has a printing farm in his home with which he started toying with the idea of 3D printed swag. The team came up with the idea of printing the game pieces just large enough to put designs on them and make them into keychains. During the season, we had over 50 unique designs for the cubes and 2 for the cones. We found out very quickly how hot of a commodity those would be at our first competition.

Our Week 0 event was in Oxford, MI this year and it was quite the eye opener for us. We went there with our prototype robot while all of the parts for our competition robot were being powder coated. It was extremely great practice for our drive team to get used to what competitive play was going to be like this season. They were able to get a good feel of what cycles were going to feel like, how the robot handled over the bump next to the charge station and even how difficult balancing on the charge station was going to be.

We then got our competition robot completed, whom the team lovingly named “Pete Stop” for the Disney character, Guido, from the movie Cars. He is the little fork lift character who dreams of being an Indy Car pit crew member, if you didn’t already know. The only words he says in the movie is “Pit stop” in that adorable Italian accent. Anyway, We had a 3 week break from competition and were able to get everything finalized on our robot. We went to our first district event in Standish, MI which is a 1.5 hour drive from home and the team decided we would stay in the area instead of making the commute every day. That was a first for our team. Never in our history have we done a competition that far from home where we needed to stay in a hotel. The competition was very tight and there were lots of great teams there. We finished qualifiers with an 8-4-0 record and were seeded 7th. After alliance selection was over, we were the captains of the #6 alliance with teams 4003 Trisonics and 6631 Rocket Robotics at our sides. We were unfortunately knocked out of the playoffs after only 2 matches but we learned a lot about the game during that competition.

We had a 2 week break before our next district event in Troy, MI so we worked hard on our programming and getting our autons nailed down. Our lead programmer was going to be on vacation during that event so we had to make sure they were tight. We visited the facility of another local team a couple times since they had a full field built that we could practice on. We went to the Troy 2 event feeling very optimistic. Qualifiers were filled with all sorts of ups and downs. We, again, finished the qualifying rounds with an 8-4-0 record and were seeded 7th for alliance selection. We were picked by the #4 alliance captains, Team 1684 Chimeras and were quickly joined by Team 5612 Robo-Raptors in the second round of selection. Let me just tell you, the playoffs were awesome. Our alliance was tight! We won all of our quarter finals and semi final matches even knocking the #1 alliance  of  teams 3538 RoboJackets, 2337 EngiNERDs and 7856 UPAD Fusion to the lower bracket in our second match. They fought their way back to the finals where we met them. The first finals match was a heartbreaking loss of 134-156. We came back after our 15 minute break with our heads held high, our robot in tip-top shape and ready to rumble. The 2nd match was extremely close all the way through with the #1 alliance edging out ahead 121-117 before final scores were tabulated. Thanks to some penalties, we were able to win that match with a score of 160-153 which tied the finals up 1-1. WE WERE HYPED! We took the next 15 minutes to clear our heads and were awarded the Creativity Award for our amazing pit, counterweight design and air delivery system. Match 3 of the finals met us with a whole lot of anticipation. Since our teams inception, we have not won an event so this was a huge moment for us. We were all on the edge of our seats, screaming our chant as loud as we could trying to get our drive team pumped up. The endless “Red Alliance, Blue Alliance” chants roaring through the gym (RedAlliance was louder, thanks to our team). The match started and we all were shouting “Two High” as our robot completed it’s autonomous cycle. All of the sudden, on the other side of the field, we see one of the opposing robots clip the charge station during it’s auton, and flip over, right itself and get stuck in the human player station! Our auton was a huge success and we got our pieces placed exactly where they were meant to be. Autonomous finished with our alliance up by A LOT! Those of us in the stands were totally in awe! The robot that got stuck was able to get dislodged and continued on with the match, placing pieces on their team’s grid. Hollywood and Chimeras were hard at work, placing as many pieces as they could while our alliance partner, 5612 RoboRapors, was in the middle of the field playing defense, disrupting the cycles of the Blue Alliance. We edged a head by quite a bit by this point and our hearts are racing! The signal for the endgame comes on with 30 seconds left in the match and we’re all on our feet in the stands cheering on our team. They cycle through a couple more pieces and attempt the climb onto the charge station. All 3 robots move in unison and slightly topple over the other side with 12 seconds left. They adjust a little bit and engage with 7 seconds left. The blue alliance goes for a last second climb and are unable to get it to balance. We are all screaming by this point and rushing out of the stands to congratulate our drive team! The final scores are read and we won! WE WON!!! 165-98! WE WON!!! It was the most unforgettable moment in our team’s history. We’re all down at the field crying, laughing, high-fiving. Thanks to our amazing alliance partners, we now have a Blue District Event Winner banner to hang up and be proud of! We did it! We won.

We came home from that event on Cloud 9! We had just less than a week to prepare for our State Championship in Saginaw, MI at Saginaw Valley State University. We had secured 84 of the 120 district points needed to qualify for the FIRST Championship World Competition. Time to grind. We spent that week fine tuning everything, recapping our last event, pre-scouting other teams and strategizing for the many matches to come. The event schedule hadn’t been released yet and we weren’t sure which field we were going to be on. At the State Championship, there are 4 full fields with 40 teams competing on each one. 160 teams in total compete in this event every year. The match schedule got released and we got a little nervous. There were some great teams on our field. It was my first time there, and I was absolutely amazed at the scale of this event! The pit area was enormous, the fields were all in the center of the arena and the stands were full! Teams from all over the state of Michigan were here to see who was the best! We were on DTE Energy Foundation Field with amazing teams like 1023 Bedford Express, 503 Frog Force, 245 Adambots, 2075 Enigma Robotics, 302 Dragons, 5460 Strike Zone and many more great teams. This was going to be a challenge. Qualifiers went on for 80 matches and we managed to seed 2nd on our field! We made it to the playoffs! During alliance selection, which can be brutal at these events, we selected 3620 Average Joes and 3767 TC Titans, both teams we had not seen in District events. Our first match started and it was on. We were against the #7 alliance. We missed grabbing our last piece during autonomous but that didn’t phase us. We went for piece after piece and scored as quickly as we could. The defense in the middle of the field was tough. At times, all 6 of the robots battling it out were hemmed up, unable to maneuver. Our alliance was able to score 6 links that match and win with a score of 161-131. We were moving on in the playoffs. Our next match was against the #3 alliance of Adambots, 302 Dragons and 2832 CSPA Gems on the blue side. This one was a nail biter. After autonomous, there was just a 1 point difference between the sides. Defense was light as both sides were solely focused on scoring game pieces. All the way through, the scores went back and forth between red leading and blue leading. During the end game period, both alliances went for the triple climb, 3 robots on each charge station, first the blue alliance and then red. The final score was just as close as the rest of the match with us losing 168-169, dropping us into the lower bracket. Our 3rd match wound up being our final match of the tournament. Near the end of the match, one of our alliance partners got tipped over by a hit from the other alliance, our other alliance partner bumped into our robot knocking them into the referee’s scoring station forcing the refs to shut the robot down which caused us to bump into them again getting their robot stuck in our frame for a short time. We were able to keep the scores close and would have won if not for those mishaps. The final score was 129 Red to 138 Blue. That’s not where this story ends for Hollywood, though.

Remember when I mentioned that we had 84 of the 120 needed to qualify for the world competition? Well, during states, we earned another 123 points thanks to our seeding and the fact that we won another award!!! We won the Quality Award for our engineering of the counterweight and how well-built our robot is. That put us well over the threshold needed! We had 207 District points and were headed to Houston, TX to compete against and alongside 639 other amazing teams from around the world!!! Yes, I said that right. 640 teams qualified for the FIRST Championship. Do you also remember how I said there were 40 teams per field at the state event? Well, at the World Championship, there are 80 teams per field! 8 fields of robot glory! We prepared for our trip to Texas by loading up our lead mentor’s van with our robot, all of our pit items and snacks for the trip. Our 2 fearless leaders took Pete Stop all the way to Houston in the back of his van while traveling with a couple mentors from another local team. While they were driving, the rest of the team met up at the airport in Waterford, MI 1 day before competition started and boarded our private plane that our most gracious sponsor of the year, ALLIED Construction, provided for the team. We flew in true Hollywood style! They even rolled out the red carpet for us to board the plane! The flight to Texas was roughly 2.5 hours where Jake and Beth met us with the vans we would be using to transport the team around Houston. First stop after we landed was the George R. Brown Convention Center where the competition was to be held. We got unloaded, set the pit up, walked around the venue for a bit and headed to the hotel for some relaxation by the pool. Did I mention how gracious ALLIED Construction was? They provided our entire hotel stay for the team as well. 14 suites at a brand new hotel in Houston just minutes from the venue! Taylor Swift was in town that week too, so they weren’t cheap. After getting a good night’s rest, we arrived at the venue early so we could attempt to beat the crowds getting in there. Competition that day was tough. There were 2 full days of qualifying with each team competing in 0nly 10 matches. We didn’t fare too well during qualifying, ranking 47th on our field. We spent our evenings at the hotel relaxing at the pool, talking with other teams who stayed at our same hotel and strategizing for the next few days to come. Alliance selection was at the start of the 3rd day and we were not expecting to get picked with how low we ranked. We found out that alliance selection was going to be different here with each alliance being able to select a 4th team as their backup. The first round went around alliances 1 through 8 and we didn’t get picked. The second round went around 8 through 1 and we still weren’t picked. The final round went back 1 through 8. The 8th alliance was up to make their final selection and we heard our number get called. Out of sheer knee-jerk reaction, we all screamed! We couldn’t believe it! We got picked to be in an alliance in the playoffs on our field! Yeah, we’re the back up team, but WE GOT PICKED! Our alliance consisted of 1102 M’Aiken Magic from Aiken, SC, 1619 Up-A-Creek Robotics from Longmont, CO, 4362 CSPA Gems from Brighton, MI and us, Hollywood Robotics. Our first match was against the #1 seeded alliance of 2056 OP Robotics from Stony Creek, Ontario, Canada, 254 The Cheesy Poofs from San Jose, CA and 27 Team RUSH… All previous division champions or world champions! Our alliance was a total and complete underdog in that matchup.  However, it did not go as expected. One of the robots on the other side of the field went down early in the match causing the match to be 2v3. We won! Alliance 8 beat Alliance 1! It was the talk of the competition. Needless to say, we lost our next 2 matches eliminating us from further play in the tournament, but we made it! We were there!

The team has really grown in the 2 years that my family and I have been involved in the program. Since the FIRST Championship in April, our team has competed in 7 off-season competitions at most of which we have competed with a second drive team and robot and have 3 more to go. We are training up the next generation of Hollywood team members and building the program to be an even bigger success. Without the guidance of our amazing Lead Mentor, Jake Hawley and his #2, my wife, Beth Saling, and all of the hard work of the wonderful students and skilled mentors we have, we would not have made it that far. To all of you, I say thank you. Thank you for allowing me to be part of this team. Thank you for showing me what it’s like to be part of something as amazing as this.

WE WON!

Lights, Camera… HOLLYWOOD!!!

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