“The games were intense, but as always with FIRST, the kids also had a lot of fun and displayed great sportsmanship.”
Forty-two FIRST Robotics teams from around Michigan competed in the 14th annual Kettering Kickoff Sept. 20-21. Several of the teams won awards at the event.
“Like all Kettering Kickoff events, it was highly competitive as there are a lot of talented FIRST teams around the state,” said Bob Nichols, Kettering University director of alumni engagement and founder of the Kettering Kickoff. “The games were intense, but as always with FIRST, the kids also had a lot of fun and displayed great sportsmanship.”
The team’s played a game called Ultimate Ascent. The game is played by two competing alliances on a field. Each Alliance consists of three robots, and they compete to score as many discs into their goals as they can during a 2:15 match. The higher the goal in which the disc is scored, the more points the Alliance receives.
Here are the teams winning awards:
‘Top Dog’ award to the first place winning Alliance:
Team 27 - Team RUSH (Clarkston High School)
Team 33 - Killer Bees (Notre Dame High School)
Team 247 - DaBears (Berkley High School)
Team 27 - Team RUSH (Clarkston High School)
Second Place Alliance:
Team 68 - Truck Town Thunder (Brandon High School)
Team 314 - Megatron Oracles (Carman-Ainsworth High School)
Team 548 - Robostangs (Northville High School)
Team 68 - Truck Town Thunder (Brandon High School)
Other awards:
Safety Award (Nominated by peers, and awarded to the team that progresses beyond safety fundamentals by using innovative ways to protect against hazards): Team 68 - Truck Town Thunder (Brandon High School)
Robot Design Excellence Award (Awarded to the Team whose Robot Demonstrates excellence in aesthetics, performance, reliability, simplicity, efficiency and innovation): Team 33 - Killer Bees (Notre Dame High School)
Spirit of FIRST Award (Nominated by peers, and awarded to the team whose members demonstrate Team Spirit, Student/Engineer Collaboration, Gracious Professionalism and Teamwork throughout the competition): Team 1189 - Gearheads (Grosse Pointe High School)
Number One Seed Award: Team 27 - Team RUSH (Clarkston High School)
Kick Hunger Award (Awarded to the team that contributes the greatest amount of food for the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan): Team 314 - Megatron Oracles (Carman-Ainsworth High)