By Adrian Norman
Team 2613 The Protobots, competed against sixty-six of the best teams in in Texas last weekend in Houston. The event was the 2016 FIRST Robotics Stronghold regional qualifier, and up for grabs was a spot at Nationals. The team had some minor discrepancies to correct prior to the competition, but quickly focused on winning the Regional Title.
The Protobots hit the ground running and were ranked #2 early in the contest, and quickly caught the attention of opposing teams. The drive team of Kyle Seyffert, Michael Robinson, & Joseph Vorheis continued to score goals and conquer course obstacles throughout the matches, and ended up ranked #9 upon the conclusion of the opening day’s event.
Day 2 began with a victory over a very skilled alliance, but one of the arms on Maverick suffered damage and had to be rebuilt. The pit crew led by Luna Urias and Ana Santa Cruz quickly gathered materials, and got the team back on track. On the last match before the finals began, one of the bumpers was damaged due to intentional hits by an opposing robot. Maverick was disabled by the field judge, and the students quickly repaired the broken bumper. The Protobots made it to the finals as alternates, but did not qualify for Nationals and ended the contest ranked 13th out of 66.
Photo: The team discussing strategy prior to a match. L-R Foreground Kyle Seyffert, Joseph Vorheis, Adrian Norman, & Michael Robinson.
