Lindbergh High School’s FIRST Robotics Team 3588 got sixth place after district competition at Auburn Mountainview High School last weekend.
This was one of eight state competitions being held this week, in a sport that’s growing around the state, according to Matthew Randall, Lindbergh’s coach. The event was the first ever FIRST Robotics Competition district event held in the state, said Randall.
“Overall, the weekend was a great success,” Randall wrote on the team’s blog. “As a coach, I am so proud of our team. Our students have worked so hard to make this year’s robot, which is the most professional and best-functioning robot that Lindbergh’s teams have made in our four years. The robot itself was truly a whole-team effort, represented 3,000+ hours of student work and represents a huge amount of learning on the part of students.”
Lindbergh’s robot is the Talon. About 40 to 60 students participate in the school’s robotics club. Lindbergh played in 12 matches at the event. Early on in the preliminary competition, the team was ranked in fourth place out of 32 teams. In three on three alliances or teams, Lindbergh won the first of a best of three match against the sixth-ranked alliance. However, Lindbergh was upset in the next two games and did not advance out of the quarterfinals.
After winning the first round, the autonomous capabilities of the robot malfunctioned. These are the first 10 seconds of the match, when the robot has to operate without anyone controlling it. Randall called the autonomous function the best feature of the robot during the preliminary matches and a definite advantage the team was without in the second and third rounds of play.
The Lindbergh alliance lost two close matches to the alliance of Kapowsin High School, Bellarmine Prep and Digipen.
Students are now working on remedies to overcome their robots’ challenges. The team next competes March 28 and 29 at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. The team has just six hours to work on their robot between now and the next competition. They are hoping to qualify for the North West District Championship in Portland.
