Ferradermis placed third in its third and final Regional of the season which was held from April 3 – 6 at State Fair Park in West Allis in what was the last ever Wisconsin Regional. Next year, Wisconsin will be switching its model of competition to what are known as “Districts” where teams will compete in-state for a chance to play in the State Championship. The top teams in the state will advance from there to the FIRST Championships in Houston.
The robot was led onto the field in West Allis by Driver Andrew O’Toole, Operator Erison Dreksler, Human Player Jayden Kehrer, Technician Nina Heim, and Drive Coach Mark Zimmermann. The robot performed very well, regularly scoring a piece of coral on the highest level of the reef during the autonomous period, something it could not do during previous events. Programming Lead Ace Hudec and programming mentors Jacob Korf and Andy McKenzie spent much time on the practice field between matches working on additional automation. The drive team guided the robot to efficient scoring of coral throughout each match, increasing the number of cycles they could complete by making use of their recently added ability to pick up pieces of coral from the ground instead of needing to go to the human player station. The robot demonstrated its quick deep climb onto the cage at the end of nearly every match. A broken intake mechanism during two matches left the team playing defense for part of each of those matches. After compiling a 5-5 record in qualifications, Ferradermis ranked #21 out of the 47 teams at the event.
Recognized by Team 2506 Saber Robotics from Franklin, Wisconsin as a great complement to their 7th seeded algae bot, Ferradermis was their first pick to join the #7 alliance, and the 14th team to secure a spot in the playoffs. The two teams then invited Team 2194 Fondy Fire from Fond du Lac to round out their playoff alliance. Ferradermis was represented on the field during alliance selections by Emerson Dunham, Zoe Olson, and Letty Trautman.
The #7 alliance played very well together, defeating the #2 alliance in the first match 190-176. They then fell to the #6 alliance 189-177 to drop into the lower bracket of the double elimination tournament. Ferradermis knocked out the #8 alliance in a close match with a final score of 176-172 before eliminating the #5 alliance by a score of 165-131. This set up a rematch with the #6 alliance for the right to play in the finals against the #1 seed. The scoring for this match was so close that no one knew for sure who had won until several minutes after the match ended. When the score was finally revealed, the Ferradermis alliance was eliminated on a one-point loss, 184-183, finishing the event in third place.
Throughout the event, the pit was staffed by Safety Captain Elora Wildermuth-Breitzman. Overseeing our scouting alliance with Team 1259 Paradigm Shift from Pewaukee and Team 3596 Rocket Robotics from South Milwaukee was Game Strategy Lead Rae Breisath, assisted by head scouts Cyrus Hudec and Andrew Zimmermann. Scouting in the stands was done by many team members including Emilie Bruns, Asher Downs, Georgia Esch, Vivian Harris, Toby Kapfer, Colby Long, Carson Miller, Preston Miller, and Virginia Nelson, and scouts were advised by mentors Kevin Housel, Matt Doherty, and Kat Dunham. Cooper Housel continued to wear the team’s media badge, and Margaret Brown continued to film matches for review by the drive team. Maddi LaHaie, Chacha Binagi, and Sam Raupp again presented to a panel of judges on our team’s impact on Whitewater, the state, and the FRC community.
In addition to the competition, Ferradermis had the opportunity to attend a Brewers game on Thursday night after pit setup. The highlight of the event, however, was perhaps the visit from 57 of the WUSD FIRST Lego League and FIRST Tech Challenge Team members from Lakeview, Lincoln, Washington, and the middle school. The students were teamed up in small groups with Ferradermis members and spent time completing one BINGO card in the pits and another while watching practice matches. The BINGO cards were designed by the high school students to encourage the younger students to spot and ask questions about various parts of the event.
Over the course of the 3 regional events, Ferradermis compiled a match record of 28 wins, 16 losses, and 1 tie. Statistically, they are ranked 5th in the state of Wisconsin with an EPA (estimated points added) of 52.9, being expected to contribute at least 53 points to their alliance during a match. The robot has seen a steady increase in EPA since the season began, growing by 20 points since the first event in Duluth. Their current EPA places them in the top 12% of teams in the world.
Next up for the team is a trip to the FIRST Championships in Houston. The team will depart Whitewater on Tuesday, April 15 and compete over the course of four days, with the world champion alliance being crowned on Saturday evening. The 600 teams competing in Houston will be divided into 8 divisions. The divisions will play on 8 fields arranged end-to-end, with 300 team pits located on either end of the fields. This arrangement stretches for a full ⅓ of a mile. Ferradermis will learn its division assignment later this week.
As Wisconsin prepares to move to the district model, Ferradermis has received an invitation to compete in an inaugural state championship event in Sheboygan on June 13 and 14. This event will allow the state to test out new equipment and systems to be used to run events next year.
Until then, Ferradermis will continue to fundraise for its trips. This week, Rocky Rococo’s hosted a fundraising event for the team on Wednesday. On Thursday night, April 10, Toppers Pizza will donate 20% of their sales to the team between 4:00 and 9:00. Toppers asks that customers mention robotics when ordering so they can track the success of the event. Then, on April 22, the Real MacCoys will host a Ferradermis Bingo Night. If you would like to make a contribution to help the team get to its championship events, you can donate using the button on https://www.ferradermis.org/ or mail a check made out to WHS to Laura Masbruch at Whitewater High School, 534 S Elizabeth Street, Whitewater, WI 53190.
Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor
lmasbruch@wwusd.org
