At the 2018 Waterloo District Event, Team Dave won the event, bringing the win home to Waterloo for the first time in team history!
After loading in and setting up our pits on Thursday, we set out to work with some quick maintenance and practice matches to give our graduating driver more full-field experience with the robot, as well as to allow the entire drive team to get comfortable with the game and venue. The Chairman’s presenters also took the opportunity to get in some practice, while the scouting and strategy team did some preliminary pit scouting to gain some basic knowledge about teams at the event.
Our dedicated scouts arrived early at the University of Waterloo PAC Friday morning, eager to get seats with good views for watching the matches. The morning commenced with opening ceremonies and more practice matches, with the official qualification matches beginning at 10:00 AM. Unfortunately, we lost our first two matches; however, we rebounded and won 7 of our next 8 matches to end the day in 6th place. The highlight of the day was a match with team 2056 – OP Robotics where we took a ride on their assist climber for a perfect 4-ranking-point match.
A few of our scouts using our new electronic scouting system
Up, up, and away!
Our Chairman’s team put down an excellent first presentation, cruising through lines and answering very thoughtful questions at the end. We’d like to congratulate our friends, team 1241 – Theory6 on a well deserved win! Meanwhile, our presenters are excited to give it another whirl at our next district event.
One of our Chairman’s presenters talking to judges in the pits.
The next day, we won our final two matches, including a nail-biting final qualification match to rank sixth going into alliance selections. Here, we were delighted to be chosen second overall by our local friends from Elmira, Team 4917 – Sir Lancerbot. We were also thrilled to be able to round out our alliance with rookie Team 7058 – Strathdroids, from Strathroy.
Part of our strategy team & pre-match discussions
In quarterfinals, we met a tenacious 7th alliance of Team 5032, Team 6856, and Team 2634. After fighting multiple tight scale battles, we emerged victorious, winning our first match 403-346 and our second match 384-262. We also revealed the ace up our sleeve: a double climb with Team 4917 that allowed us to get the maximum 90 points in the endgame.
In semifinals, we played 3 tough matches against Team 772, another local friend Team 4678, and Team 1374. While it appeared we had won the first match, a missed penalty call was discovered, and the win was turned over as we lost the match 328-341. Fortunately, we battled back to win the next two matches 423-282 and 447-279.
In finals, we met the first seeded alliance of Team 2056 – OP Robotics, Team 1241 – Theory6, and Team 4777 – Spirit Robotics. Our strategists went to work, and our drive team executed flawlessly, allowing us to win intense scale battles. After winning the first match 399-332, the elation in the stands was tangible. Once both us and 4917 climbed at the end of the last match, our team was on its feet, cheering to no end. When the final score appeared, revealing we had won 393-312, the stands erupted in cheers! Congratulations to the finalists for some very well-played matches!
In addition to winning the event, we also picked up the Gracious Professionalism Award sponsored by Johnson & Johnson for working well with other teams in the heat of competition, helping them with tools and software. Our very own Noah Betik was also named a Dean’s List Semi-Finalist, earning the chance to be considered a Finalist at the Ontario District Championship.
Team Dave will be competing at the McMaster University April 6-8, with the goals of moving on to the Ontario District Championship in Mississauga and the World Championship in Detroit, Michigan. You can keep up with us on Instagram and Twitter at @team3683 or by liking us on Facebook.