Ferradermis took to the field at Mukwonago High School on Saturday, July 20, and Sunday, July 21, competing with and against 30 other robots from Wisconsin and Illinois for the Mukwonago Robotics Offseason Competition (MROC). With 18 Ferradermis team members in attendance, and a wide array of activities, there were plenty of opportunities for various students to try different roles on the team.

MROC is more than just your typical robotics competition. The day on Saturday began with a morning of workshops offered by various teams on topics from team logistics to programming to FIRST’s plans for new electronics in 2025. Ferradermis members Cosette Wildermuth-Breitzman, Maddison LaHaie, and Isabella Cohen joined forces with members of Mukwonago’s team to present a workshop to provide tips to other teams on the Impact Award process and making an impact in general on your community. The workshop was attended by roughly 31 people representing 12 teams.

A quick round of practice matches followed the workshops, and then the qualification matches began. Each team was allotted 10 qualification matches between Saturday and Sunday. Ferradermis took the field with a rotation of drivers under new Head Coach Mark Zimmermann on Saturday before settling into a standard drive team configuration on Sunday. Students who had the opportunity to drive in at least one match included Margaret Brown, Preston Miller, Ace Hudec, and Andrew O’Toole. Erison Dreksler and Preston Miller took turns as Operator, and Dreksler and new incoming freshman member Vivian Harris took turns as Human Player. Nina Heim and Harris took turns as Technician. Recent graduate Kay Mikos stepped into the role of Drive Coach. Ferradermis ended qualifications with a 4-6 record.

Represented by Cyrus Hudec, Andrew Zimmermann, and Chacha Binagi for alliance selections, Ferradermis gratefully accepted an invitation from Team 2506 Saber Robotics from Franklin High School as their first pick for the #6 seeded playoff alliance. The two teams then invited Team 6381 Red Raider Robotics from Sheboygan North to join the alliance.

The alliance worked together to develop some great match strategies and won their first playoff match against the #3 seeded alliance 64-39. They were then defeated by the #2 seed (and eventual champion alliance led by the Hilltoppers from Marquette University High School) 111-53 in a match where the Ferradermis robot became disabled early when a power cable was knocked loose. This dropped the Ferradermis alliance into the lower half of the double-elimination playoff bracket. In their next match, the alliance played against the #1 seed, and won 80-66. The playoff run came to an end in the fourth-place match when the alliance lost to the #7 seed in a tight match decided by a last second penalty. The final score of that match was 72-67.

FIRST Wisconsin is contemplating a switch from a Regional competition model to a District competition model. In the district model, all regular season competitions would occur in-state and end with a Wisconsin State Championship from which teams would still advance to the World Championships in Houston. Team 930 from Mukwonago set out to show what a district competition could look like with their MROC event this past weekend, adding features such as on-field video between matches and alumni and student commentators after each match. Both Isabella Cohen and Margaret Brown were able to take a turn at the commentator desk this weekend.

It takes a huge group of volunteers to operate a FIRST Robotics competition, including refs, judges, queuers, field resetters, pit administrators, and many more roles. The volunteer pool is made up of many FIRST alumni and student, mentor, and parent representatives from other teams. Ferradermis member Cyrus Hudec volunteered to do field reset all weekend, and Rae Breisath spent some time at the Welcome Table along with team parent Tori Breisath. Ferradermis advisor Laura Masbruch volunteered to queue up teams for matches.

Chacha Binagi continued to collect 3D printer waste from other teams as part of the Ferradermis Project Preserve initiative, and many team members contributed to the school supply drive with items to be donated to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. Mentors Mark Zimmermann, Matt Doherty, and Laura Masbruch played in the mentor match, coached by Erison Dreksler and supported by Kay Mikos as human player. Zoe Olson, Carson Miller, and Georgia Esch were part of the scouting crew in the stands, and Esch took the field to represent Ferradermis in the humorous Human Player match where students played the game that the robots normally play. Ferradermis members also stayed for the Saturday evening team social during which yard games and some intense dodgeball took place.

Ferradermis is next in action on Saturday, July 27, at the Rockford Robotics Offseason Competition (R2OC) at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois. Matches begin at 8:45 am. The event is free and open to the public.

Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor
lmasbruch@wwusd.org