State Championship 2025

Compressing a 32 team robotics competition into one day is no small feat.  The organizers did an excellent job.  

Stepping into the event as it was powering up I immediately got the feel of robot season.  I guess it is not buried too deep in my awareness.

Team 5826 got off to a strong start, with our first match being a resounding victory.  We were, albeit briefly, ranked number one in the state.  Ah, but this was an elite level competition.  When your robot works perfectly you might win, depending on who you are paired against.  When your robot has glitches, you won't.  As the event wore on our robot started to show its age/complexity.

We did end up playing in the elimination rounds.  As alliance selection works in a serpentine fashion there is actually some mild benefit to being ranked below mid range.  We were picked by the number two seeded alliance.

But after a brief playoff run we were out.

Lots was learned.  Essentially we have gone from a fun but unserious program to one that has climbed about halfway to the top.  We can see the highest limit of what can be done....but the slope above us is steep.  

This was also a chance to say farewell to some really outstanding seniors.  The post Covid rebuild of team 5826 has brought us our greatest successes, and these kids deserve the credit.  Where we go from here; how the team gets "built" for the third time......?  Well, these questions can wait a week or so.  Its not just the robot that is tired.

Silly side note.  A pit area near us had a cute lil' robot dog.  I'm thinking Hank would have gone insane seeing this in person....