Mukwonago High School played host to 29 robots fielded by 25 Wisconsin high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams for the 5th annual Mukwonago Robotics Offseason Competition (MROC) on July 25 and 26. This was a great opportunity for our recent graduates Chacha Binagi and Erison Dreksler to squeeze in one last competition while some of our incoming freshmen – Espen Heim, Horatio Nelson, and Nels Brown – got their first taste of an FRC competition.
The event host, FRC Team 930 from Mukwonago High School, does a fantastic job of putting together two packed days of opportunities for students to learn and grow. Saturday began with three tracks of workshops hosted by area teams where students could learn about everything from business to CAD to data on last season’s robots. Vivian Harris, Mason Genung, and Erison Dreksler represented Ferradermis by presenting on, “Volunteering and Mentoring with FLL and FTC Programs.” Charlotte Trautman and Alex Nelson took care of dropping off two backpacks full of school supply donations from team members for the MROC School Supply Drive before taking up residence in the pit to wait for judges. Students also had the opportunity to volunteer for interviews at the MROC Live Desk, broadcasting on the livestream between matches. Day one of the event ended with mentor matches where the students and mentors swapped roles, pizza, ice cream sundaes, and a team social with some intense dodgeball and yard games.
The Ferradermis robot performed very well during its 10 qualification matches, ending qualifications with an 8-2 record and ranking #4 out of 29. During two qualification matches, the robot became disabled on the field and was unable to finish the match – once when the battery cable snapped off and once when an errant game piece landed on the emergency stop button in the drive station, but the students never quit working and pushing forward. In another match, Ferradermis worked with the eventual #1 seed BadgerBots from Middleton to set the high score for qualifications with 467 points. The robot was led onto the field by Driver Mason Genung, Operator Erison Dreksler, and Human Player Vivian Harris with Espen Heim and Paxton Wilson taking turns as Technician. The pit was staffed throughout the event by Preston and Carson Miller. Matches were filmed by Eli Gonsior so that the drive team could review the footage immediately after each match.
Alliance selections saw the 1st and 3rd ranked teams quickly join forces. #2 ranked Hilltoppers from Milwaukee then invited Ferradermis to join their second seeded playoff alliance. Zoey Ambrose took the microphone to represent the team and accepted the invitation from Hilltoppers. An invitation was then issued to Team 6643 Walnuts and Bolts from Racine to join the alliance. Eventually, the alliance needed to call in a backup robot to fill in for Hilltoppers while they fixed their intake system. The backup role was filled by the second robot fielded by BEAST from Brookfield East, operating as Team 9991.
The Ferradermis alliance breezed through the first two rounds of the double-elimination playoffs before falling to the #1 seed and dropping into the lower half of the bracket. A solid victory over the #3 seed then set up a rematch in the finals with the #1 seed. The Ferradermis supporters in the stands, including team members Mily Zeferino-Hernandez, Asher Downs, Julian Rennells, and Cooper Housel were intense throughout!
FRC Finals are a best-of-3 playoff that begins with a formal handshake between the two alliances. By this point, the remaining robots had all experienced major issues, and many were struggling to score points on the field. The Ferradermis pit crew pulled off quick repairs to the intake system over and over again between matches. The first finals match ended with a 207-122 Ferradermis victory. The second match was much closer, leaving the crowd hanging for over five minutes before the final score was announced, but the Ferradermis alliance pulled off an exciting 185-177 victory to secure the event win.
The Whitewater community will have several fall opportunities to learn about WUSD robotics programming for grades 4-12. The team will be at the Whitewater City Market on August 4, Whippet Welcome on August 6, and the Whitewater Public Library on September 19. New members are welcome to join this fall, with the annual parent meeting scheduled for September 30. Parents and students can reach out to Laura Masbruch at lmasbruch@wwusd.org with questions about joining.
The team will participate in one other offseason competition at SHOUT, hosted at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in Milwaukee, on October 17 while they await the announcement of the new game and the beginning of the new season in January. Ferradermis will host an FLL Regional Tournament at Whitewater High School on November 14 followed by an FTC Qualifier (Whitewater RoboRage) on December 19.
Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor
lmasbruch@wwusd.org
