Lincoln District

The HOT Team made their second appearance of the season at the Lincoln District this weekend with forty-one other teams joining them! After a win at the Milford District event, the students, mentors, and parents of the HOT Team had their hopes high and were pushing for another victory. At the end of the day, they didn’t come out on top but still were honored with an award and walked away having gained experience and insight for their future competitions.

At the end of the qualification matches, the HOT Team was ranked third out of all forty-one teams and prepared to make their selection for what teams they wanted to request the assistance of. The HOT Team never had to pick, though, as the first place alliance captain (team 5050 Cow Town Robotics) invited the HOT Team to join them. The HOT Team enthusiastically agreed and thus joined the first place alliance. Once it was their turn to pick the final member of their alliance, the two partners reached out to Singularity, team 5066, who accepted the invitation. Now that all the alliances had been set, it was time for the elimination matches–quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals.

The HOT Team and their alliance partners were up against the number eight alliance in the first elimination match. It seemed almost given that the strong number one alliance would wipe out the number eight alliance, but at the end of their second match, it was revealed that the number eight alliance had won and the number one alliance was out for the rest of the elimination matches. Many disappointed and disheartened faces could be seen in the crowd as the realization sunk in, but despite the bad news, the HOT Team continued to conduct themselves with an air of professionalism and grace. It was an especially tough loss due to the close score of the match–82 to 80. The number eight alliance went on to–somewhat surprisingly–win the entire event in what was a well-deserved win on their part.

After all the matches were over and awards were given out, the HOT Team still walked away with one award: the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors. This award celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge. The HOT Team were honored and proud to be selected as the finalist for this award, even if they weren’t the “top team” of the event.

Moving on to future events, the HOT Team will make their last appearance in a district event this weekend (March 29-30) at the Kentwood District. The team is looking forward to another chance to test and improve their robot and hopefully turn up the heat!