UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena played host to fifty-four high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Teams from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota from March 14 – 17, 2024. Wisconsin currently has sixty-six active FRC teams, and forty-four of them were playing in this tournament. Whitewater High School’s team, Ferradermis, is the only FRC team in the Rock Valley Conference.
The Ferradermis robot, Chief Lee the Tangerine, performed very well, going 7-3 in its ten qualification matches under Driver Andrew O’Toole, Operator Kay Mikos, Human Player Erison Dreksler, and Technician Nina Heim. The robot had undergone a major change in its shooting mechanism in the ten days between the Northern Lights Regional in Duluth and the team’s trip to Milwaukee, greatly improving the accuracy of the mechanism and making the robot a force to contend with on the field.
During qualification matches, the randomly assigned alliances of three robots are awarded ranking points – two for a win, one for a tie, one for scoring a minimum number of notes (orange rings), and one for achieving enough points in the end game, which is based on climbing on the stage (a structure with 3 chains). The #1 ranked robot, Team 6223 Arsenal of Engineering from Menomonee Falls High School earned a total of 28 ranking points during qualifications. Ferradermis earned a total of 19, placing them 16th in the overall rankings.
Emerson Dunham, the Game Strategy Subteam Lead for Ferradermis gratefully accepted a gracious invitation from Team 9535 The Knack from Lake Country School to join the #6 seeded playoff alliance along with Team 2194 Fondy Fire from Fond du Lac High School. The alliance played extremely well together, going 3-2 in the double-elimination tournament. Before losing to the alliance led by Team 1714 MORE Robotics from St Thomas More High School (the team that had been the #1 seed at the Northern Lights Regional in Duluth), the Ferradermis alliance managed to knock out the #1 seeded alliance along with the #5 seed and the #7 seed.
Working together throughout the weekend to support the team were Safety Captain Elora Wildermuth-Breitzman, Head Scouts Andrew Zimmermann, Zoe Olson, and Cyrus Hudec, Head Programmer Ace Hudec, pit crew member Luc Pomazak, videographer Margaret Brown, Ambassadors Cosette Wildermuth-Breitzman and Maddi LaHaie, and Scouts Belle Cohen, Rae Breisath, Chacha Binagi, Georgia Esch, Preston Miller, Carson Miller, and Toby Kapfer. Ferradermis worked with an eight-team scouting alliance at this event including teams from Mukwonago, Muskego, Sheboygan, MSOE, New Berlin, Waukesha, and St. Thomas More. This was the largest scouting alliance we have ever formed, and it allowed us to use two sets of data gathering tablets for the first time, providing redundant data to help minimize the impact of any errors in data collection.
In addition to the work with the robot, students had many other opportunities to engage with others at the event. Two of our students chose to sing in the team choir and performed the national anthem at opening ceremonies. Since our team had won the Impact Award in Duluth, Ferradermis was not allowed to compete for that award again in Milwaukee. However, our Impact Presentation Team organized an “Impact Exchange” where teams could come together to share ideas and help each other with their presentations. Ferradermis was honored to be one of two teams selected to do a live interview with WISN Channel 12 News in Milwaukee, so five of our team members put on a show with the robot in the pit and shared information about the Impact Award.
Ferradermis could not do what it does without the many sponsorships it receives from businesses, individuals, and service organizations in and around Whitewater. The team was excited to be able to host two representatives from one of our Platinum-Iron Sponsors, MacLean Fogg Component Solutions, at this event.
The next stop for the team is the Midwest Regional at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, which will take place over Spring Break. Plans are also coming along nicely for the team’s trip to the FIRST Championships in Houston from April 16-21. Thank you to the many individuals, businesses, and service organizations (56 at last count) who have come together to help the team fund this incredible experience! There are still many opportunities to help the team with their fundraising:
· Attend the Ferradermis Bionic Bingo Night at The Real Maccoys on March 26 at 6 pm. This event is hosted by the United Way of Jefferson and N Walworth Counties.
· Dine at Rocky Rococo’s on April 9.
· If you already shop at Kwik Trip, you can purchase Kwik Trip cards through the team at face value, and the team gets to keep a portion of the sale.
· The WUSD Robotics Booster Club is running an online flower bulb sale
· Direct donations to the team can be made on the team’s website at Ferradermis.org.