Last weekend, the AdamBots visited Lubbock, Texas to attend the Hub City Regional, our “warm event” of the year. It was a great warm-up for the rest of the FIRST season, and we left as semi-finalists with the Spirit Award and the Innovation in Control Award!

We left for Texas (well, most of us, as some juniors had to stay behind for a few extra days to take the ACT) on Wednesday, March 5th and began competition on the 6th with a day of practice matches. Though the day was slow as a lot of technical issues were still being solved, it was a good learning experience that prepared us for the qualification matches the next day.

On Thursday the official games begun, and we were able to see Arial Assist in full action for the first time. We saw all kinds of robots, specializing in defense, offense, and teamwork and using a variety of interesting and unique designs. We lost our first match, won our second and third, lost our fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, won our eighth, lost our ninth and tenth, and won our eleventh and twelfth for an overall score of 5 and 7. One of our games had a score change, so we ended up with 6 and 6 and 21st on the leader-board.

In alliance selection on Friday, we were chosen by the 4th alliance captain, team 3626, Parish Robotics from Dallas, Texas. Our third team member was team 4852, the Eliminators from Shallowater, Texas. The elimination rounds were intense; we won our quarter finals matches within the first two games and then were eliminated in the semi-finals by the alliance including teams 1817, 2468, and 5320 that went on to win the regional event.

Though we didn’t win the event, we fortunately did not go home empty-handed. We were awarded the Spirit of the Competition Award and the Innovation of Control Award during the awards ceremonies on Friday and Saturday, respectively, and we gained valuable experience that we will be able to bring to our upcoming competition in Howell, Michigan, and beyond.

At the event, we also presented for the Chairman’s Award. Though the award ultimately went to team 2468, we received positive feedback on our submission and some constructive comments as well. We will use these to improve our presentation for future events.

Our pit also saw a few changes for the regional, including a brand-new presentation tool which can be used by visitors to our pits and by team members while presenting or asking questions as well. This interactive PowerPoint presentation was used many times and had a positive reception. We will continue to use it throughout our Michigan competitions.

Stay tuned for AdamBots updates throughout the FIRST season! Our robot showcase video is also coming soon!

Written by Cameron Johnson

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