On the weekend of March 17-19th, our beloved team 8727 went to compete at the FNC Charlotte competition! New robot upgrades including stronger chains, new gripper geometry, and faster arm trajectories paired perfectly with our now well-practiced drivers who crushed it in qualifying. A strong 5th place finish coming out of our final qualification math put Glitch fifteen spots higher than forecasted by Statbotics (a simulation software popular in FRC).
In the playoffs we captained Alliance #3, teaming up with team 4829 the Titanium Tigers and 9297 the BOGOBOTS. After a win in our first match against the sixth seed, our alliance advanced to play the number two alliance. In our second match, we pulled another win, holding our spot in the upper bracket against a higher seed. However, a loss in the next match against the first-seeded alliance dropped us down, pitting us against the number two seed in a match that would decide who continued on to the finals. With an extremely close score of 111-116, Glitch came up just six points short of a win, ending our run at Charlotte with a third-place finish in the playoffs!
During the award ceremony, our programmers and designers were acknowledged for their important efforts in making our robot competitive. We were awarded the Excellence in Engineering Award for our robot's sophisticated trajectory-based controls, simulated physics model, and well-designed geometry. Lastly, our programming lead Ben won the District Championship Dean's List Semi-Finalist award, capping off an amazing event.
The FNC State Championship!
Because of our success at UNCA and Mecklenburg in the earlier weeks, Glitch 2.0 qualified for the FNC State Championship hosted in Greenville, NC at ECU. A long 6+ hour bus ride and a blown trailer tire led us to a bumpy start at competition. However, with the help of many members of the FRC community, we were able to unload our entire pit in the final few minutes before the night closed on day one. We are extremely grateful to FIRST North Carolina for providing us with an extra 15 minutes past the 10:00 pm closing of the pits, as well as to the members of the other teams that helped us unload.
Following the bumpy start, team 8727 got operational right away on Day 2. A finished pit, repaired robot, and fully new custom-generated and optimized arm trajectories (yet to be tested) set the day off on the right foot. During the State Championship, we were able to integrate significantly faster and more efficient arm trajectories, as well as LED driver indication lights.
Glitch placed rank 12 in Qualification, and ended up on the eighth-seeded alliance in the playoffs with 6502 Darcside and 4290 BotsOnWheels. An unlucky first match with a broken intake and an E-Stopped teammate led to a loss against the #1 seed. In our second match against the #4 seed, our alliance once again came up just short, losing by only three points.
In the award ceremony, Glitch 2.0 became the first team in North Carolina to win the Sustainability award for our business and operations at the championship level! We are also the first team in NC (and likely the world as well) to have won two Sustainability awards.
We are extremely thankful to ECU and FIRST North Carolina for making these events possible and would like to thank our mentors and parents for their invaluable support this season. Additionally a huge thank you to our community sponsors that have made this all possible for us, keeping our team accessible and available to everyone in our high schools, and inspiring the next generation of makers and life-long learners.
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