Arkansas Regional Recap
For those who missed it, Ebirah-Horror of the Doorknobs, made a thrilling debut at the Arkansas Regional, igniting excitement and enthusiasm within our entire team. Our dedicated students each contributed over 125 hours of build time on our robot, and we were eager to see its performance. Thanks to some fortunate breaks and relentless perseverance, we achieved our highest ranking ever, reaching 8th place out of 30 teams at one point. Despite facing challenges with our cameras, intake, and climber mechanisms, we pushed through with hard work and determination.
At the end of Saturday, we were both shocked and thrilled to be selected by the No. 1 alliance, teaming up with two outstanding FRC Powerhouse teams. We were honored to be the second pick by Alliance Captain Team 2481 - Roboteers from Tremont, Illinois, and Team 118 - the Robonauts from Houston, Texas. Our coaches were especially excited, as the Robonauts are legends in the FRC community. Their mentors play a crucial role in providing the Kitbot to FIRST rookie teams and share their Everybot design with all teams annually. We have admired and learned from this team for years. With the support of our incredible alliance partners, we swept through the tournament undefeated, bringing home our very first FIRST Regional Winner blue banner!
The Last Three Weeks
Second picks do not automatically earn a spot at the FIRST Championships for winning a regional competition, they accumulate points in the “Regional Pool” for a chance to receive an invitation to Championships later in the season. With this in mind, our team returned home ready to dive back into work and earn more points! After a brief break to recharge, we gathered for critical discussions about our design's strengths, weaknesses, and necessary changes before our next event. We identified several items as “Must” and “Maybe,” and then we got to work.
First, we reinforced our elevator—the mechanism that enables us to reach high goals on the field. Next, we completely redesigned our intake mechanism, which allows us to pick up and score game pieces. Finally, we adjusted the placement of these mechanisms to better balance the center of gravity on our robot. These changes will help us more consistently score our "Deep Cage" climb, which is worth significant points. While we successfully scored this at the Arkansas Regional, it wasn't always reliable.
Tennessee Bound
Now, we are excited to announce that Mechanically Challenged Robotics will compete in the Smoky Mountains Regional Robotics Competition in Sevierville, Tennessee, from April 2 to April 5. This represents our final opportunity to earn an invitation to the FIRST Championships in Houston and showcase our skills on an international stage. We are eager to explore a new area and connect with new teams. We are also looking forward to teaming up once again with Arkansas-native Team 3937 Breakaway from Harding Academy in Searcy. Students will travel on Wednesday, with practice matches starting Thursday, followed by qualifying matches and tournament play on Friday and Saturday. As always, we will share streaming links on social media as they become available.
Thank you for all your support this year, and a special shout-out to our sponsors who made this journey possible!
