A long string of sequential wins put the BraveBots into first place, until they had a match against the Escanaba home team which ended in their only loss in qualifying matches, moving the Bravebots into 4th place. It took a while, but they moved back into first over the course of the following matches.

“It was a very exciting and memorable experience, especially for newcomers. It was very fun to see our team win and progress better from Belleville into Esky,” said Aryanna Mercier, a freshman at Gladstone Area High School.

The BraveBots fought hard for their victory, choosing their alliance partners to be team 5193, Pantheon, and team 6079, Jet Set. An alliance is formed after qualifiers when the top eight teams select two other teams to join them going into the semi-finals. These alliances brainstorm gameplay ideas and strategize to ensure that the tournament ends successfully.

One of the struggles they faced was that the Pantheon robot kept breaking down after every match, but was thankfully saved with teamwork from the rest of their alliance. Another mishap that occurred was that the alliance’s defense bot didn’t weigh enough, so they came up with the solution of putting 15lbs of our team’s buttons into the bot. However, when the bot was hit, some buttons fell out. This could have possibly led to the receival of a red card, which would have prevented The BraveBots and their alliance from progressing in the tournament.

The Gladstone BraveBots worked hard to secure the victory at the First Robotics Competition (FrC) Escanaba District Event. (Photo courtesy of Dawn Hammond)

“The tournament was really stressful and really hard and it took a lot of work and a lot of hours, but everybody learned a lot and it was really cool to see new people helping out on the robot and I had more fun than I ever thought I would,” said Brant Veeser, a senior at Gladstone Area High School.

Both The BraveBots and the RoboMos of Escanaba Senior High School will be moving forward to the state wide competition at Saginaw Valley State University from April 16 to 18.

The Gladstone Bravebots took home the victory after winning the recent First Robotics Competition (FRC) Escanaba District Event. (Photo courtesy of Dawn Hammond)

The Gladstone BraveBots were challenged with building a robot that could complete tasks at the First Robotics Competition (FRC) Escanaba District Event that took place on April 10 to 11. (Photo courtesy of Dawn Hammond)